Peaceful protests for the digital age
Flash Protest is an open-source app that allows you to share your live video and location to nearby users to start a peaceful, flash protest
One-tap stream + chat
Host a live stream, broadcast what's happening, and communicate with viewers across the country. Viewers can chat anonymously, or physically join you in protesting.
Anonymous by default
Every viewer is assigned a new username per chatroom. Messages are end-to-end encrypted meaning our servers can't read your messages. Coordinate securely and anonymously with others.
Open source & nonprofit
The Android, iOS, and server code is made free and open-source by the Flash Protest Foundation.
Get the app, join the movement
Download Flash Protest, follow development on GitHub, or donate to keep the infrastructure independent.
Platform features built for civil liberties
Borrowed directly from our documentation so organizers know what the product delivers today.
Broadcast your protest
Livestream any protest while coordinating securely.
- Twitch for everyone; trusted admins can unlock YouTube Live or Facebook Live.
- Only the host generates the meeting key and securely distributes it to new viewers
Communicate Privately
Earn trust without exposing personal data.
- Room-scoped pseudonyms (think "ThunderingStallion42") keep conversations grounded while preserving anonymity.
- Device-based reputation lets moderators flag repeat abusers without deanonymizing them.
Location-aware discovery
Find or trigger urgent actions near you.
- Hosts share precise coordinates; viewers can supply only a ZIP code for alerts.
- Radius-based notifications, geo filters, and multi-stream views surface the full picture of any protest.
Democratic moderation
Community-owned guardrails keep spaces safe.
- Supermajority votes re-categorize streams, pause trolls, and enforce Terms violations.
- Moderator quorum toggles between crowd voting or mod-only votes to stop bot swarms.
Security & privacy defaults
Layered protection borrowed from our Privacy Policy.
- TLS 1.3 plus device-specific AES-256-GCM shields every request.
- No names, emails, phone numbers, or chat logs are collected—just the minimal data necessary for functionality.
Open architecture
Transparency that activists can trust.
- Apache 2.0 license so communities can self-host or fork.
- Romanian data centers and Vault-managed keys add a jurisdictional privacy buffer.
Protest categories at a glance
Tag streams so supporters instantly understand the cause and how to plug in.
Uncategorized
Go live fast; the community can vote in the right category afterward.
Immigration
Peaceful actions highlighting enforcement or detention issues.
Rights
Civil, LGBTQ+, reproductive, or other rights being infringed.
Justice
Rallying around controversial verdicts or court proceedings.
Policy
Pushing for or against legislation at any level of government.
Economy
Budget cuts, labor actions, corruption, or economic injustice.
Other
Experimental actions that don’t fit the list—e.g., “No Kings” marches.
Democratic moderation
The community enforces Terms of Service without sacrificing anonymity.
Community enforcement
- Viewers can recategorize “Uncategorized” streams with a 66% supermajority once 10 viewers are active.
- Streams deemed non-protests trigger a 3-point reputation loss and 48-hour streaming ban for the host.
- Reported comments that violate the Terms lead to a stream-specific ban plus a 1-point reputation penalty.
- Exponential rate limiting keeps spammed alerts from overwhelming the room.
- When moderators reach quorum, rooms can restrict votes to moderators to stop bot attacks.
Moderator status
- Trusted users with strong streaming history can be invited to hold temporary moderator status.
- Rooms can switch to moderator-only voting when a moderator is present so bots can’t rig decisions.
- Moderators act collectively; a supermajority must agree that content violates the Terms.
- Moderators may choose whether to display a “MOD” banner next to their username for transparency.
Built for frontline organizers
Use cases include:
Grassroots organizers
Coordinate marches, demonstrations, and rapid-response rallies with a synchronized livestream and chat.
Mutual aid networks
Share real-time supply needs, dispatch medics, and route support where it's needed most.
Citizen journalists
Document what's happening on the ground without exposing your identity or contacts.
Campus & neighborhood coalitions
Host town halls or safety watches on infrastructure that won't be shadow-banned or throttled.
How groups use Flash Protest
- Spin up a room tied to a single protest, complete with Twitch stream and encrypted chat.
- Notify local supporters based on their notification radius preference. If they start a live stream near you, they become a variant of the initial protest event.
- Share logistics—rally points, legal hotlines, medics—within the encrypted room.
- Document the action and keep footage for accountability or cross-posting later.
Roadmap priorities
A public slice of our roadmap so supporters see where we're headed next.
In-house streaming
Our goal is to operate privacy-first video infrastructure ourselves. Running bandwidth-heavy livestreaming is expensive, so donations fund the servers that let us move away from commercial platforms and keep protests secure end-to-end.
T-Mobile DNS fix
Investigating ISP-level blocking reports so organizers can connect reliably.
iOS & F-Droid releases
Ship official builds beyond Android sideloads to reach privacy-first communities.
Web discovery
Let visitors explore live protests on the map without joining encrypted chat.
ntfy notifications
Evaluate push alternatives that avoid FCM/APNs lock-in.
Emergency contact sharing
Optional SMS/email alerts when a host goes live or needs immediate help.
Flash Infra starter kit
Publish production-ready infra-as-code so other movements can self-host.
Bluetooth mesh chat
Prototype offline, hyperlocal messaging so organizers can coordinate even when mobile data is throttled.
Login options
Explore privacy-preserving authentication (hardware keys, proof-of-personhood) if bot pressure escalates.
Community feedback loop
Open channels for activists to submit priorities and shape what ships next.
Privacy, safety, and accountability
Key promises from our Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, and Warrant Canary.
Terms grounded in civil liberties
Use Flash Protest to organize lawful civic action, document abuses, and protect targeted communities. Inciting violence, doxxing, or coordinating illegal activity violates our view of protected speech and triggers community enforcement.
Read the Terms of ServicePrivacy by design
We collect only push tokens, public keys, and the minimal location info you opt into. Chat content is end-to-end encrypted with AES-256-GCM, and IPs live only long enough for rate limiting.
Read the Privacy PolicyMonthly warrant canary
If we ever receive a gagged request for data or backdoors, the canary stops updating. Until then, it confirms we have not been compelled to weaken encryption or hand over keys.
See the Warrant CanaryPartner with Flash Protest
Coalitions, civil-liberties lawyers, technologists, and donors can start a conversation with the team.