Portland Civic Lab hosted a screening of The Internet’s Own Boy on what would have been Aaron’s 40th birthday and asked a number of people to contribute their thoughts for the occasion.

Trevor Timm, co-founder and Executive Director of Freedom of the Press Foundation, sent this video message below:

Transcription:

Hi, Portland. I’m Trevor Timm. I’m executive director of Freedom of the Press Foundation.

I’m so excited you’re here today to watch the internet’s own boy, which is about perhaps the most influential force of good in the history of the internet, the late Aaron Swartz.

You’ll see a much younger version of myself make a brief appearance in the film. But I also wanted to talk to you about another part of his legacy that was just getting off the ground when this film was made.

Aaron’s last project before he passed away was prototyping an open-source whistleblower submission system that news organizations and journalists could use to securely communicate with sources. Freedom of the Press Foundation was proud to take this on after Aaron passed away.

It’s called SecureDrop and it’s now used by over 60 major media outlets worldwide, including many of the biggest in the country like the New York Times and Washington Post.

It’s just one small example of how Aaron’s work is just as influential today as it was over a decade ago. If this is the first time you’re seeing the film, I hope you come away inspired. And if you’ve already seen it, I hope it renews your sense of the power one individual can have to change the world, as it does for me every time.

So enjoy and happy 40th birthday, Aaron Swartz.