The organization has played key roles in forwarding the passage of net neutrality rules,[9] blocking expansion of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act,[10] 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.[11]
Campaigns
Demand Progress has been involved in grassroots and direct lobbying campaigns in relation to the following efforts, among others:
Support
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.[12]
The Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, a sweeping trade agreement involving many countries around the Pacific Rim is being negotiated in secret as of July 2015.
COICA, and its descendants PIPA and SOPA. 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.
Government-mandated Internet IDs, a law proposed by (then) Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, which raised skepticism over the efficacy and questionable effects on privacy.[16]
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 a few weeks before congressional terms expired.[17]
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".[18]
Modern debtors' prisons, which have also found opposition from justices in the various states where they are still legal.[19]
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.[21]
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.[22][23] 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."
