CloudFlare offers free DDoS protection to public interest websites

The goal of the project, dubbed Galileo, is to protect freedom of expression on the Web by helping sites with public interest information from being censored through online attacks, according to the San Francisco-based company.

"If a website participating in Project Galileo comes under attack, CloudFlare will extend full protection to ensure the site stays online -- no matter its location, no matter its content," the Project Galileo website says.

The company will not publicly name the sites enrolled in the program to keep them safe "from potential backlash," but said that participants include minority rights organizations, LGBT rights organizations in Africa and the Middle East, global citizen journalist sites, and independent media outlets in the developing world.

To be accepted into Project Galileo, CloudFare said, websites need to be engaged in news gathering, civil society, or political/artistic speech; to be the subject of online attacks as a result of those activities; to belong to non-profit organizations or small commercial entities and to act in the public interest. CloudFlare has partnered with over a dozen civil society organizations including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Freedom of the Press Foundation, the Center for Democracy and Technology and American Civil Liberties Union to help it make those determinations.

According to the company, websites accepted into the program should on average be up and running with DDoS protection in several hours, but the process can take as long as a couple of days in some circumstances.