Advocacy group urges parties to include Internet freedom in platforms

Demand Progress, a progressive advocacy group, launched a campaign on Tuesday to urge the Republican and Democratic parties to include a commitment to protecting Internet freedom in their party platforms.

"It's about time for the Democratic and Republican parties to stand up for Internet Freedom — and to do it in writing," the group wrote. "2012 has been a landmark year for those who believe in the right of Americans to share information and communicate with each other free from censorship and surveillance."

Demand Progress lobbied against controversial anti-piracy legislation, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), and a cybersecurity bill, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), this year.

"Adopting strong Internet freedom language will help ensure that we'll never have to deal with another SOPA or CISPA," the group on its website for the campaign, voteforthenet.com.

The parties will finalize their platforms at their conventions in August and September.

Numerous other advocacy groups recently unveiled declarations of Internet freedom and urged lawmakers to sign them. 

Although most Republicans and Democrats readily declare their support for "Internet freedom," the consensus breaks down over specific policies like net neutrality, which has the backing of most Democrats but is opposed by many Republicans.

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