What’s So Trendy About Julian Assange That Everyone Went Crazy Over It?

Julian Assange, WikiLeaks co-founder, has been creating a stir throughout the internet over the past few months, causing rumors to fly after the publishing of some cryptic tweets. WikiLeaks claimed that their co-founder had has his internet “intentionally severed by a state party,” and that a team has already “activated the appropriate contingency plans.”

The claims made by WikiLeaks, on behalf of Julian Assange, came less than two after Assange announced, via a video link to a news conference in Berlin, that the site would be releasing documentation that is significant to the U.S. election, during the build up to November 8. The WikiLeaks co-founder has been living at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London over the past four years since being granted asylum by Ecuador in August 2012. The 45-year-old Julian Assange denied allegations that he molested and raped two women in Sweden while attending a conference.

Since the mysterious WikiLeaks tweets regarding Julian Assange on Twitter, the internet has erupted with speculation and possible theories as to Assange’s possible internet severing. Before the 3.7 million followers strong WikiLeaks tweeted about Assange’s “severed internet connection,” the company sent out three tweets known as pre-commitments, all appearing to be written in an encrypted code. The tweets fueled speculation as to whether Assange was still alive, as well as whether the tweets were a “dead man’s keys,” or “dead man’s switch,” which are encrypted codes revealing highly classified secrets to be revealed upon death. WikiLeaks has since given no indication as to the supposed death of Assange.

“Pre-commitment in this case is a reference to a cryptographic scheme to prevent unreleased information from being tampered with. Essentially those unique codes are proof to anyone reading the documents in the future that their contents remains unchanged: alteration to the leaks will likewise alter those 64-character codes.”

Julian Assange is being pitted by some as a hero for what he has exposed through WikiLeaks. Further speculation has led many to conclude that the first WikiLeaks pre-commitment mentioning U.S Secretary of State John Kerry, was announcing him as their next target. This sparked rumors about the site releasing Kerry’s emails following its publication of mass Democratic National Committee (DNC) documents in July last year. WikiLeaks did not confirm how the documentation was obtained, being accused by the U.S. government of hacking accounts. Former outspoken Trump advisor, Roger Stone, tweeted his opinion, thrusting his support behind this theory, highlighting threats made by Kerry against the people and president of Ecuador.

“John Kerry has threatened the Ecuadorian President with ‘grave consequences for Ecuador’ if Assange is not silenced. Reports the Brits storm the Ecuadorian Embassy tonight while Kerry demands the UK revoke their diplomatic status so Assange can be seized.”

Concerns over the whereabouts and safety of Julian Assange have populated Twitter, and seem to be of grave concern to all parties involved. Many have connected the alleged severing of Assange’s internet with the timely release of sensitive documentation regarding Hillary Clinton during her campaign for the American presidency. Hillary’s team even went as far as accusing Assange of working alongside the Russian government to help Trump’s chances of winning the November 8 election.

#Assange on 12 June: “FBI has enough to indict #Clinton but will push for concessions in exchange [to not indict]” https://t.co/D3La7eGHqf

— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) July 5, 2016

Although WikiLeaks has come out with some notable information that has inflicted diplomatic damage across the globe, Julian Assange and WikiLeaks have created a new channel of journalism via the noted approval of a sizable minority, classifying them as visionary trailblazers for a new reporting standard. One that could see Julian Assange’s WikiLeaks turns the table on the presentation, and the actual reported information itself.

[Featured Image by Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images]