Liz Flock

This was happening a lot at this point that activists were getting kind of hauled off the streets. But this was a person that I felt intimately connected to. Like I knew her whole story at this point. Like I'd read her whole blog.

This was happening a lot at this point that activists were getting kind of hauled off the streets. But this was a person that I felt intimately connected to. Like I knew her whole story at this point. Like I'd read her whole blog.

And so it was really scary. And obviously as a gay woman and a woman speaking out against the regime, like you're thinking that this person's dead. Yeah.

And so it was really scary. And obviously as a gay woman and a woman speaking out against the regime, like you're thinking that this person's dead. Yeah.

So all of a sudden doubts start popping up about Amina. It really all started very quickly. Like on the same day that she wrote that she was kidnapped or detained by security forces or that the cousin writes that, Andy Carvin, who's NPR's Twitter senior strategist and had this huge following, basically asks Amina, Has anyone met Amina?

So all of a sudden doubts start popping up about Amina. It really all started very quickly. Like on the same day that she wrote that she was kidnapped or detained by security forces or that the cousin writes that, Andy Carvin, who's NPR's Twitter senior strategist and had this huge following, basically asks Amina, Has anyone met Amina?

Yes. I remember Andy asking that question on Twitter. And I remember thinking, wow, if this person isn't real, I have interviewed them saying that she is and given them a platform and caused this blog to probably increase in popularity. And yeah, that's a really scary moment as a super young journalist.

Yes. I remember Andy asking that question on Twitter. And I remember thinking, wow, if this person isn't real, I have interviewed them saying that she is and given them a platform and caused this blog to probably increase in popularity. And yeah, that's a really scary moment as a super young journalist.

I don't know if you remember this New Yorker cartoon from 1993 where it says on the internet, no one knows you're a dog, and it has this dog at the computer. So obviously people were thinking about this all the way back to the 90s, but I know I wasn't. It's not that I was trusting everything I read online, but I think I just didn't expect this gay Syrian woman activist...

I don't know if you remember this New Yorker cartoon from 1993 where it says on the internet, no one knows you're a dog, and it has this dog at the computer. So obviously people were thinking about this all the way back to the 90s, but I know I wasn't. It's not that I was trusting everything I read online, but I think I just didn't expect this gay Syrian woman activist...

who was blogging like a lot of other Syrian activists, they were all totally legitimate to be someone so different and Yeah, I mean, as the story progressed, it got creepier and creepier.

who was blogging like a lot of other Syrian activists, they were all totally legitimate to be someone so different and Yeah, I mean, as the story progressed, it got creepier and creepier.

Britta was studying Syrian economic development. She had written about Syria for a Quaker group that she was the head of. and she had even posted photos of her visiting Syria with her husband. And she had posted this photo on the photo website Picasa showing a billboard of a smiling Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, with the slogan, Syria believes in you.

Britta was studying Syrian economic development. She had written about Syria for a Quaker group that she was the head of. and she had even posted photos of her visiting Syria with her husband. And she had posted this photo on the photo website Picasa showing a billboard of a smiling Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, with the slogan, Syria believes in you.

I mean, it's not a photo that exists like thousands of times on the Internet. It is only in these two places. And we're like, oh, my God, this is the exact same photo.

I mean, it's not a photo that exists like thousands of times on the Internet. It is only in these two places. And we're like, oh, my God, this is the exact same photo.

We explained the whole situation to her. I remember thinking this is so bizarre. Like, I'm sorry, but I think that your daughter is this person posting on this blog, pretending to be a lesbian woman in Syria. And to her credit, she was not like... Please leave me alone. She basically said, wow, this is so interesting. And I don't think it's Britta. I think it's Tom. Tom. Britta's husband.

We explained the whole situation to her. I remember thinking this is so bizarre. Like, I'm sorry, but I think that your daughter is this person posting on this blog, pretending to be a lesbian woman in Syria. And to her credit, she was not like... Please leave me alone. She basically said, wow, this is so interesting. And I don't think it's Britta. I think it's Tom. Tom. Britta's husband.

Tom McMaster. And she was like, he's so involved emotionally with Syria. Yeah. He, you know, his interest has evolved from there. And she even said Britta complains about him spending his whole day on the computer. Aha.

Tom McMaster. And she was like, he's so involved emotionally with Syria. Yeah. He, you know, his interest has evolved from there. And she even said Britta complains about him spending his whole day on the computer. Aha.