Join the Internet Defense League using the Cat Signal plugin for WordPress!
Back in 2012 “the internet”, as a collective, realized the power of people speaking up with the Internet Blackout to fight against SOPA/PIPA. Major players stepped up and told the government they did not like what was happening with the two bills, including companies like Google, reddit, Mozilla, WordPress, Craigslist and more.
Since then, other campaigns have happened – though none have drawn nearly as much press as the Internet Blackout did. To help boost awareness of, and participation in, future similar campaigns a group calling themselves the Internet Defense League have created a means of easily disseminating code, so that as many websites as possible can quickly get the code and implement it in the future.
Cat Signal is a WordPress plugin that implements the JavaScript needed to participate. Turn it on, leave it on, and your website will always display a message any time a campaign happens. For example, today 9/10/2014 is the Internet Slowdown which is being used to inform people about Net Neutrality and collect digital signatures which will sent to your local Congressman. Here is a screenshot of what Binary Templar looked like when a site visitor would come to the site for the first time today.
If you don’t want to keep the plugin enabled, feel free to deactivate it between campaigns. As long as you know something is happening, you can always turn it back on again. But as long as you’re not so worried about the extra js file include on your site performance, you are probably fine to just keep it enabled so that you don’t have to proactively do anything the next time a campaign occurs.
If you like, you can also go to the Internet Defense League’s members area to grab a badge for your site, advertising that you support their cause. There are multiple to choose from, for use in including in different locations on the site or with different designs.
Have fun, and happy protesting!