Demand Progress is an internet activist-related 501(c)4 entity, with 501(c)3 sponsorship from the Citizen Engagement Lab Education Fund specializing in online-intensive and other grassroots activism to support Internet freedom, civil liberties, transparency, and human rights, and in opposition to censorship and corruption. The organization was founded through a petition in opposition to the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act, sparking the movement that eventually defeated COICA's successor bills, the Stop Online Piracy Act and the PROTECT IP Act, two highly controversial pieces of United States legislation.
The organization has continued to fight for such causes in the wake of the successful shelving of these two acts. Demand Progress has also played key roles in forwarding the passage of net neutrality rules, blocking expansion of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, under which co-founder Aaron Swartz was indicted, and other key legislative efforts. Estimated membership numbers in early 2015 weigh in at over two million. As of late 2013, the organization encompasses the Demand Progress, Rootstrikers and Watchdog.net wings/brands,
Demand Progress' Executive Director David Segal is a former Democratic Rhode Island state representative and served on the Providence City Council as a member of the Green Party. The organization was co-founded by Aaron Swartz, an internet activist, and Segal. Immediately prior to the founding of Demand Progress, the pair had worked together on Segal's unsuccessful campaign for Congress, which had been backed by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, which Swartz had also co-founded. Program Director David Moon was elected to serve in the Maryland House of Delegates in 2014.
Demand Progress co-led efforts to secure passage of net neutrality regulations, including via co-organizing the Internet Slowdown Day mass-action, lobbying, and other activism.
Demand Progress has helped lead opposition to the COICA/PIPA/SOPA online censorship bills, to expansion of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and to mass surveillance. It played a critical role in the passage of net neutrality rules in 2014-15, and has engaged in dozens of other campaigns since its inception.
The Motion Picture Association of America and United States Chamber of Commerce have stated their opposition to Demand Progress on numerous occasions, mainly in respect to their stance on internet censorship. David Moon, Demand Progress' program director, responded to their statements, noting that the mere existence of their retort was proof that "the proponents are panicking."
Demand Progress has worked on various projects in tandem with numerous other similar organizations, such as Electronic Frontier Foundation, Center for Democracy and Technology, the American Civil Liberties Union, Fight for the Future, et al.
Demand Progress has been involved in grassroots and direct lobbying campaigns in relation to the following efforts, among others:
Whistleblowing and whistleblowers such as that of Edward Snowden; also opposing the SEC's motions, which they themselves had admitted would stifle attempts at reporting wrongdoing.
Reform of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, via Aaron's Law and other means.
Support for Net Neutrality, including co-leading the successful Internet Slowdown Day.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, a sweeping trade agreement involving many countries around the Pacific Rim which is being negotiated in secret as of July 2015.
President Obama's support for appointing current chief presidential counter-terrorism supervisor John O. Brennan as a replacement for current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, on grounds of his association with political movements legitimizing extrajudicial killings, widely regarded by civil libertarians as state-sponsored terrorism.
COICA, and its descendants PIPA and SOPA.
Backscatter X-ray or "nude scanning devices" used by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
Government-mandated Internet IDs, a law proposed by (then) Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, which raised skepticism over efficacy and questionable effects on privacy.
Continuation of the Patriot Act, which was set to expire in 2013 but swiftly received large support in Senate for a 5-year reauthorization in late 2012, only few weeks before congressional terms expire.
Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act, in regard to the "kill switch" controversy which saw a public concern for executive power to "authorize emergency measures to protect the nation's most critical infrastructure if a cyber vulnerability is being exploited or is about to be exploited".
Modern debtors' prisons, which have also found opposition from justices in the various states where they are still legal.
Censorship of Facebook, mainly in regard to political activists' profiles being suspended without notice, and also their apparent support of outright government-sponsored censorship in countries such as China and Syria.
S. 978 (112th), an ill-defined bill which has the potential to allow copyright trolls to press charges against directors of online videos containing clips of copyrighted media, and furthermore anyone who embeds said content into her own website.
