Julian Assange announces return to X after 2 years with a photo from Sydney; ‘I'm back’
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange surprisingly vanished from social media after his June 2024 release from prison. His personal X account, which had been at the forefront of advocacy for the 55-year-old's release till then, went quiet on June 28 after sharing an article about his plea deal.
Julian Assange arrives for the screening of the film The Six Billion Dollar Man at the 78th edition of the Cannes Film Festival on May 21, 2025. (AFP)More than two years later, the Australian publisher and activist announced with a photo from Sydney, Australia, that he is back on X. The announcement was originally made from the X handle of WikiLeaks. It had a photo of Assange just below a poster of him on Sydney's iconic 630 George Street.
"I'm back," Assange wrote, sharing the photo.
Assange's X account was neither banned nor subjected to restrictions. It appears that the 55-year-old deliberately stayed away from it for over two years after his release from Belmarsh High Security Prison, London, on June 24, 2024.
The X account (then Twitter) of Julian Assange briefly vanished from the platform on Christmas Eve of 2017. Starting around 8pm EDT on December 24 that year, the X account displayed a "Sorry, that page doesn't exist!" message. The account was restored the following morning.
No explanation was provided by Twitter on what caused the brief downtime. A post from the official US Navy X account reading "Julian Assange" was shared during the outage, but it was soon taken down.
Julian Assange signed a plea deal with the US Department of Justice in which he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified national defense documents. The 62-month prison sentence that he was handed had already been served, meaning Assange walked free out of jail on June 24, 2024.
Following his release, Julian Assange moved back to Australia, arriving at the Canberra airport on the evening of June 26, 2024. He was welcomed by his wife Stella, father John Shipton and the rest of his legal team. Since then, he had been living in Australia with his family.
Assange was arrested in Britain in 2019 after Ecuador withdrew his asylum and allowed British police into its London embassy. He was arrested for breaching UK bail conditions after spending nearly seven years inside the embassy. At the same time, the US had requested his extradition over an alleged computer-intrusion conspiracy involving Chelsea Manning and classified US military material.
Shamik is a journalist covering the United States for Hindustan Times. He has more than four years of experience reporting on US politics, sports, and major breaking stories across fast-moving cycles. He previously worked at Times Now and Sportskeeda, building strong newsroom instincts and digital storytelling skills. At HT.com, he focuses on day-to-day coverage of US political developments while also handling high-impact stories that demand speed, accuracy, clarity, and context under pressure. Shamik has extensive experience covering NFL game days over the past two years, coordinating live updates, analysis, and explainers. He is particularly drawn to large news moments such as US elections and the Super Bowl, where he thrives at the news desk working alongside the team. He holds degrees in Media Studies from Jamia Millia Islamia and English Literature from Jadavpur University. Before entering journalism, he briefly worked in digital marketing and political consultancy roles. Currently a Senior Content Producer at HT Digital, he is driven by curiosity, discipline, and a constant desire to explore new and obscure topics. Outside work, he enjoys reading, films, sports, and learning continuously.Read More
