Web infrastructure and security company providing CDN, DDoS protection, and edge computing services. Known for debates around content moderation responsibilities.
In January 2024, a Cloudflare sales employee filmed her termination meeting and posted it to TikTok, where it went viral with millions of views. The video showed HR representatives unable to explain why she was being let go. CEO Matthew Prince responded acknowledging the company 'could have done this differently' but also called the employee's performance insufficient.
In September 2022, Cloudflare open-sourced its Workers runtime under the name 'workerd' with an Apache 2.0 license, making the core of its serverless computing platform freely available. This allowed developers to run the same runtime locally and in production, and contributed to the broader open-source ecosystem. The project is actively maintained on GitHub.
In September 2022, Cloudflare blocked the Kiwi Farms harassment forum after a sustained campaign targeting trans streamer Clara Sorrenti (Keffals), which included swatting, doxxing, and credible death threats. Cloudflare initially resisted calls to drop the site, but reversed course citing an 'unprecedented emergency' and 'imminent threat to human life.'
In 2019, Cloudflare launched a free CSAM (child sexual abuse material) scanning tool available to all customers regardless of plan level. The tool works with NCMEC (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children) to detect and report CSAM. By 2025, the tool was expanded globally, no longer requiring NCMEC credentials, making it accessible to any Cloudflare user worldwide.
In August 2019, Cloudflare dropped 8chan (later rebranded 8kun) as a customer after the El Paso Walmart shooting, where the gunman posted a white supremacist manifesto on the site. CEO Matthew Prince cited 8chan's repeated role as a platform for mass shooting manifestos. This was only the second time Cloudflare had terminated a customer for content.
ProPublica reported in 2019 that Cloudflare's abuse reporting system forwarded the names and email addresses of people who complained about hate site content directly to the hate sites in question. This enabled campaigns of harassment against those filing complaints. After ProPublica's investigation, Cloudflare said it would change its abuse reporting system to allow safer complaint submission.
In April 2018, Cloudflare launched 1.1.1.1, a free public DNS resolver with a strong privacy commitment: no logging of user IP addresses, no selling of data, and independent audits by KPMG to verify compliance. The service was designed as a privacy-focused alternative to ISP and Google DNS resolvers.
Between 2015 and 2018, investigations found Cloudflare provided cybersecurity services to websites affiliated with designated terrorist organizations. In 2015, Congressional testimony revealed two of the top three ISIS chat forums used Cloudflare. In 2018, HuffPost documented Cloudflare servicing at least 7 US-designated terrorist groups including Al-Shabaab, Taliban, Hamas, and PKK. Cloudflare stated its position was based on legal obligations rather than moral judgment.
In 2017, Cloudflare launched the Athenian Project, providing free enterprise-level security services to state and local government election websites. The project protects voter registration, polling place information, and election results websites from cyberattacks. By 2024, the project covered 359 election entities across 31 US states, and expanded internationally to protect election infrastructure worldwide.
In August 2017, Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince personally decided to terminate services for neo-Nazi website The Daily Stormer following the Charlottesville Unite the Right rally. Prince acknowledged the decision was arbitrary, writing internally 'I woke up this morning in a bad mood and decided to kick them off the internet.' This was the first time Cloudflare had ever terminated a customer for content.
Cloudflare has been a consistent advocate for net neutrality. Co-founder Michelle Zatlyn served on the FCC's Open Internet Advisory Committee, contributing to the 2015 net neutrality vote. In 2017, Cloudflare partnered with Fight for the Future for Net Neutrality Day, reaching 178 million page views urging users to contact Congress. Cloudflare filed FCC comments in 2024 supporting net neutrality principles.
In 2014, Cloudflare launched Project Galileo, providing free enterprise-level cybersecurity services to at-risk public interest organizations including human rights groups, journalists, and civil society organizations. By 2025, the project protected over 3,000 internet properties in 120+ countries, blocking 108.9 billion cyber threats in a single year. Cloudflare partners with 56 civil society organizations to identify groups needing protection.
Cloudflare has published semi-annual transparency reports since 2013, detailing government requests for user data, takedown demands, and national security requests. The company has also been a vocal participant in debates about infrastructure-level content moderation, publishing detailed blog posts explaining its decision-making framework.