About
Julian Assange is an Australian editor and activist, founder of WikiLeaks in 2006. In 2010, he published three of the largest leaks of classified documents in US history, with Chelsea Manning. He received several awards for his work, including the Amnesty International Media Award in 2009 and the Sydney Peace Medal in 2011. From 2012 to 2019, he lived in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, then was arrested and detained at Belmarsh. In 2024, he pleaded guilty to one charge and returned to Australia.
* 1971-07-03
Major works
- Underground: Tales of Hacking, Madness and Obsession from the Electronic Frontier (1997)book
- Cypherpunks: Freedom and the Future of the Internet (2012)book
Key milestones
- 2006Founded WikiLeaks, a media organisation specialising in publishing censored or restricted official materials.
- 2010Published the Afghan War Diaries, Iraq War Logs, and US diplomatic cables, with Chelsea Manning.
- 2024Pleaded guilty to one charge in a US federal court and returned to Australia, ending a 14-year legal battle.
Themes
Freedom of informationGovernment transparencyJournalismActivismSurveillance
Sources: cambridge.org · ibanet.org
