DAY 132 - JULY 31, 2011
The death toll in Syria has surpassed 2,000 and Assad's regime is thought to be holding 12,000 protesters without trial. The US, UK, Germany, Japan, and the Arab League have condemned the actions of the Syrian government. Hamza Al Khatib, a 13 year old demonstrator, is found dead in Daraa with visible signs of torture on his body. Human rights activists say 136 people have been killed today around Syria. It is the bloodiest day of the conflict to date.
You and Khalil are sent photos of the mutilated body of Hamza Al Khatib by the boy's family. You're horrified by the government's complete disregard for human life. Immediately you spread the images to local and international media outlets as well as opposition activists, blogs, and encrypted web servers. You know that this will be a major catalyst to propel political and social reform so you and Khalil stay up for days working to garner as much focus on the atrocity as possible. This includes emailing with the family and creating a Wikipedia and Facebook page for Hamza. His death will not be forgotten. You learned to viralize martyrs online after the "We Are All Khaled Said" Facebook page set off the initial "Day of Rage" in Egypt. After the gruesome images go viral, you see your Twitter followers climb by the thousands, giving you more incentive to break stories like this. At the same time you are realizing that your web identity is becoming increasingly public, something that can help you and at the same time hurt you.