Julian Brown Returns to Social Media, Explains Absence

Originally posted on Men's Journal | By Mike Moraitis | Last updated Jul 31, 2025 5:56 PM ET

Julian Brown, a 21-year-old inventor from Georgia, has made his first social media posts since he was feared to be missing recently.

Those fears arose after Brown didn't post to social media for over two weeks, with his last post noting that he was "certainly under attack."

Brown's mom later confirmed he was doing OK, but she did not go into detail about his whereabouts or why he was absent from social media, citing security reasons.

On Wednesday, Brown made his first post to Instagram in weeks, with the post featuring a picture of himself and his mom.

On Thursday, Brown made two more posts, one of which revealed that his phone had been hacked, which was the reason behind his absence.

"You see these hackers, they got into my iCloud and they were basically able to remotely watch and view my entire phone. I figured out they were in my phone, kicked them out and they had no more access to my phone, but they still had access to my Instagram somehow," he explained.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Julian Brown (@naturejab_)

Brown added that he had to reach out to Meta for help, but the process took a long time, leading to his delayed return to Instagram.

The founder of Naturejab, Brown created "Plastoline" (a fuel derived from plastic waste) using his microwave pyrolysis reactor.

"I will create fuel alternatives to gasoline and diesel, while destroying plastic," Brown wrote on the Naturejab website.

Brown, who has amassed 1.8 million followers on Instagram, also aims to invent "the world's first continuous, solar, microwave pyrolysis reactor of plastic waste."

“What motivated me was seeing the large plastic issue at hand throughout the world and not seeing any obvious solutions that were effective enough to make a difference," Brown told Forbes. "It made me so upset that even though we are told that we are recycling, plastic is clearly ending up in the oceans and landfills where it is affecting so many lives, including our own."

If you're interested in helping out, Brown has a GoFundMe page.

This article first appeared on Men's Journal and was syndicated with permission.

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