After watching Citizenfour and The Internet’s Own Boy, I noticed the similarities between how the government dealt with Edward Snowden and Aaron Swartz. Both were considered whistleblowers with the intention to expose the government to the people about different vital topics we weren’t aware of and ultimately being sued with various acts that seemed unreasonable. The government, in a way, wanted to punish them for portraying the consequences of everyone who goes against the governments’ doings. 

I want to pinpoint the legality and the different legislations of the documentaries the government utilized to sue both Swartz and Snowden. When it comes to Edward Snowden, he was criminalized for exposing the government for the consistent spying and tracking of everyone in the country. Indeed to the citizens, he was honored for standing up against what he thought was wrong, despite knowing the consequences he’ll have to face. However, one legislation the government charged Snowden was the breach of the Espionage Act, which was enforced back in 1917. Although this act punishes people who use confidential information to benefit the enemies of the country, Snowden’s purpose for the leaks was to inform the citizens of our limitation of privacy, which we were unaware of. I want to understand more about how this act, along with the other laws the government used for the suing, was applicable to Snowden’s situation. 

In addition, another legislation used against Aaron Swartz was the Computer Fraud and Abuse of 1984. What I got from the documentary The Internet’s Own Boy was the vagueness of this act, which the government knew would be unfavorable towards Swartz. 11 out of 13 counts Swartz was being tried for was backed up with this act, which I find unfair. Plus, there were instances where he was charged for violating laws that only the government knew about, as it was considered to be confidential. Therefore, the legislation aspect was what stood out to me.