Internet Defense League Overview ‧
read
The people who organized the Internet Blackout knew the fight wasn’t over, so they formed the Internet Defense League to “defend the internet from bad laws and monopolies” and “make sure the internet never loses. Ever.”
Let’s meet the Internet Defense League.
Internet Defense League, mobilize!
The Internet Defense League is a loose coalition that can mobilize swiftly against online censorship. The objective is to involve thousands of websites, from corporate sites to personal blogs and everything in between.
The IDL boasts some internet heavyweights in its ranks, such as Mozilla, Reddit, WordPress, and ExpressVPN.
With the combined reach of our websites and social networks, we can be massively more effective than any one organization.The League knows that there is strength in numbers: “When the internet's in danger and we need millions of people to act, the League will ask its members to broadcast an action... With the combined reach of our websites and social networks, we can be massively more effective than any one organization.”
Light up with the cat signal

Members of the League will raise the cat in times of need, calling other members to action.
“There's this academic theory... that talks about if you ban the ability of people to share cat photos, they'll start protesting en masse,” said IDL organizer Tiffiniy Cheng. “The idea is we're building the infrastructure to put up this cat signal or this bat signal all over the internet at a moment's notice with the click of a button.”
Who’s at the top of the Internet Defense League?
Today the IDL is run by Fight for the Future and a group of volunteers.
How people can support the Internet Defense League
Here's how YOU can make the IDL even stronger.
Join the League. Almost any kind of website can join, including YouTube channels, Tumblr blogs, and Twitter streams. Individuals can also sign up with just an email address.
Get the Anti-censorship Network code. Members can embed the IDL’s Anti-censorship Network code into their websites. Then, “whenever someone visits from a country with internet censorship, we show them circumvention information hosted by our network of mirror servers.” Members receive new code as new privacy threats emerge so their calls to action stay relevant.
Host a mirror server. The IDL also invites web developers to host the mirror servers that power its Anti-censorship Network.
Donate to the cause. The IDL asks for monetary donations from members to enable its small staff to keep working behind the scenes.
The internet is a safer place with the IDL around
The Internet Defense League has formalized a movement and rallied the support of websites beloved by millions of users worldwide. Most importantly, the League is ready to act if censorship rears its ugly head again.
Hopefully the IDL will never need to shine its cat signal across the web. But we’re glad it’s there, just in case.
Meow!