Abstract: Internet accountability refers to social actors' supervision and accountability on public power through the Internet platform， which has the basic attributes of contentious politics. Social actors often need to rely on Internet performance to gather the power of protest， and effective accountability must meet the needs of the public， the media and the officials. Power actors introduce legal weapons to take a strong counter against Internet accountability by resorting to the logic of rights and order. The tactics of power actors to deal with Internet accountability are determined by the types of public power， so the mightiness of public power and the imperfection of civil rights protection lead to the legal rebellion of Internet accountability. The abuse of legal weapons would result in the chilling effect of society， and protecting the rights of citizens and regulating public power is the key to the rapid development of Internet accountability and even the modernization of Internet governance.

Key words: Internet accountability, contentious politics, contentious performance, legal countermeasure, Internet governance