[14] The film depicts the life of American computer programmer, writer, political organizer, and Internet activist Aaron Swartz.

[16] Geoffrey Berkshire in his review for Variety described it as "A spellbinding portrait of the Internet whiz kid's life and political convictions, which were cut short by his suicide in early 2013.

"[17] John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a positive review and said that it was an "Excellent newbie-friendly account of a story that rocked the Web's cognoscenti.

"[18] Katherine Kilkenny from Indiewire said that "The Internet's Own Boy aspires to provoke Capitol Hill by educating its viewers to inspire questions.

Questions for those revered leaders in Silicon Valley – and for a government whose restrictions of the internet have been applied with a sledgehammer, as one source of the film says, instead of a scalpel.