The Ecuadorian embassy has spoken out following rampant speculation about the health and whereabouts of Julian Assange after his recent cryptic tweet.
The concern was sparked by the WikiLeaks founder sending a bizarre tweet on New Year’s Day which featured a 60 character code and a link to the popular ‘Paper Planes’ song by British rapper MIA. Many wondered why the 46 year old had tweeted the seemingly random string of letters and numbers.
One of the leading theories was that the code was an encryption key. An encryption key is used for protecting and unlocking data. The key is a way to ensure that unreleased information isn’t tampered with, as altering the information would also change the digits in the key.
Another popular theory was that it was a “deadman’s switch” that was triggered because Assange was incapacitated or dead. According to the theory, the switch would release Wikileaks’ incriminating “insurance files.”
The MIA music video also invited a lot of theorizing amongst social media users and on internet message boards. The song contains interesting lyrics such as “If you catch me at the border I got visas in my name,” and “I've got more records than the KGB, So, uh, no funny business.”
Was Assange suggesting that he was no longer in the embassy? Or was he issuing a warning about further documents WikiLeaks has in its possession?
Speaking to RT.com on Wednesday, a spokesman for the Ecuadorian embassy, where Assange has resided since 2012, revealed that the Australian is still in the building and his health status has not changed.
“Nothing has changed,” the spokesman said.
Assange has not tweeted, or liked anything on Twitter, since his strange New Year’s Day message.