Laser

If they acted differently, they'd probably be liable for illegal activity that they proxy for (this is for example relevant for the DMCA safe harbor).

Anyhow, when on their abuse page, I have an option for "Registrar", which is used for "DNS abuse", among others.

So people from low trust score environments like Linux

Linux user here, Cloudflare hasn't blocked access to a single page for me unless I use a VPN, which then can trigger it.

It's been this from the very beginning. But they don't fit the definition of a protection racket as they're not the ones attacking you if you don't pay up. So they're more like a security company that has no competitors due to the needed investment to operate.