Australian journalist Lynne O'Donnell has reported from Afghanistan for more than two decades, filing hundreds of reports and interviews from around the country.
But two tweets she posted on Tuesday evening while staying in Kabul had friends and followers gravely worried for her safety.
Many noted in the replies that the tweets did not sound like they were written by her – speculating she had been coerced into writing them by the Taliban.
Eighteen hours later, Lynne tweeted again, confirming their suspicions.
"Tweet an apology or go to jail, said #Taliban intelligence," she wrote.
"People knew immediately that they were not my words, and I had been coerced," she told the ABC's The World program.
She said after registering at the Foreign Ministry in the Afghan capital as a journalist, she was told she would be met by intelligence officials.
Later she noticed her phone was having trouble connecting to a signal and she suspected she was under surveillance.
So began three days of "cat-and-mouse" with authorities that eventually saw her detained for four hours.
During that time, she was forced to hit send on the apologetic tweets the Taliban had written, and then record a video stating she had "not been coerced".
O'Donnell, who has since left Afghanistan, described the experience as both frightening and farcical.
"I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't afraid … I was in a very unpredictable situation. The Taliban, since they've taken over, have disappeared, detained, beaten, [and] killed people arbitrarily and with impunity," she said.
They took issue with her stories for Foreign Policy about reports of forced marriage and sexual slavery among Taliban militants and the fate of LGBTQ Afghans under the regime.
"I said to them, 'Look … if you make me do this, you're going to look silly, because people will know I haven't written [the tweets]," she said.
"So then they had a discussion amongst themselves about the meaning of the word 'silly'."
O'Donnell recounted how some of the officials would even laugh along with her after she jokingly agreed with their accusations that she was a secret agent for the CIA, MI5 and Australian intelligence.
"But even though all of this was really funny and ridiculous all at the same time, they did try very hard to intimidate me … they're brutal and they're ignorant and they're defensive in their power.
"I was utterly vulnerable in there."
O'Donnell is far from the only journalist targeted by the Taliban.
A report by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan released this week identified human rights violations affecting 163 media workers and journalists committed by Taliban authorities between August 2021 and June 2022.
That included 122 cases of arbitrary arrest and detention and 58 instances or torture and ill-treatment.
As those were instances able to be verified, it's thought the actual number could be far higher.
Reporters without Borders ranked Afghanistan at 158 in the world on its 2022 press freedom index, a drop of more than 30 on its 2021 ranking.
"There is no journalism in Afghanistan anymore, because they beat, detain, kill journalists [and] they go into hiding and they flee," O'Donnell said.
"There is a reign of terror, and as [the Taliban] learn how to do it and what works, they are getting worse and it's getting more and more sinister."
The UN report also documented 217 instances of "cruel, inhuman and degrading punishments" carried out by the Taliban since they took over, including instances where people were stoned to death after being accused of having an extramarital relationship.
The report also details examples of the Taliban "upholding forced marriages and/or denying women their choice of partner" — allegations similar to those in O'Donnell's reports that saw her run afoul of the regime.
O'Donnell said she was no longer able to return to Afghanistan because she was now a liability to the people she works with and interviews there.
"It would be unfair of me to impose that danger on people who cannot just go to the airport after a few hours of detention," she said.
O'Donnell said she was in text communication with Australian diplomats based in Doha who were monitoring her situation during the ordeal.
In a statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it provided consular assistance to O'Donnell when she was in Afghanistan, but declined to comment further citing privacy obligations.
A spokesperson for the Taliban has been contacted for comment.
Tweeting in response to the UNAMA report, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid described the findings as "propaganda" and denied there was any arbitrary killing or arrests in the country.
