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‘Last tweet in 2018’: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange returns to X after 8 years, reveals why his account was inactive
After over two years of inactivity, Julian Assange resumes posting on X, sharing a photo from Sydney.
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WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has returned to X after years of silence, posting from his personal account on Friday stating that his account had last been used by his defense campaign in 2018.
“8 years, polymarket. last tweet 2018. account then run by my defense campaign as @DefendAssange,” Assange posted on X.
The post followed his return to X from few hours ago, when he shared a photograph from Sydney with the words “I’m back.”
His return was first announced through the WikiLeaks account, which shared a photograph of Assange standing beneath a large artwork depicting him on Sydney’s George Street.
Why Julian Assange had stopped posting on X
Assange’s personal account had remained largely inactive during the period surrounding his release from prison. His account went quiet on June 28, 2024, shortly after he shared material relating to his plea deal with US authorities.
His return comes more than two years after he was released from London's Belmarsh prison in June 2024 following a long-running legal battle over his extradition to the United States.
Assange spent nearly seven years inside Ecuador’s embassy in London after seeking asylum there in 2012. British police arrested him in April 2019 after Ecuador withdrew his asylum. He was subsequently held at Belmarsh while fighting the US extradition request.
Assange’s US plea deal and return to Australia
In June 2024, Assange reached a plea agreement with the US Department of Justice. He pleaded guilty on the Pacific island of Saipan to one count of conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disclose classified US national defense information.
He was sentenced to 62 months in prison, with the sentence treated as time already served. He was released and returned to Australia, arriving in Canberra on June 26, 2024.
Assange had become internationally known through WikiLeaks, which published large quantities of classified US military and diplomatic material. His case became a major international dispute involving press freedom, national security and the limits of publishing classified information.
His return to X now marks his renewed public presence on a platform where his account had previously been used extensively during the campaign surrounding his legal case.
