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March 08, 2012

The Kony 2012 Campaign Goes Viral, but What Is It, Really?

By Michelle Amodio, TMCnet Contributor

If you’ve spent a decent amount of time in social networking lately, you’ve probably come across the Twitter (News - Alert) hashtag #stopkony or have seen links to a viral video on Facebook from the charity group Invisible Children about war criminal Joseph Kony.



Per Invisible Children, ““KONY 2012 is a film and campaign by Invisible Children that aims to make Joseph Kony famous, not to celebrate him, but to raise support for his arrest and set a precedent for international justice.”

Perhaps this is a viral video for the misinformed, as we all know that if you want news to spread, put it out to Twitter and Facebook (News - Alert). People will see it. But the Kony campaign is more than just a bunch of people trying to move and shake this whole thing down. However, the motives are unclear.

What is clear, at least after a lot of Internet research if you’re amongst the many who like to look into links before reposing them ad nauseum without knowing why you’re doing it, is that Joseph Kony is a bad guy.  

In a nutshell, Kony's Ugandan rebel group is blamed for tens of thousands of mutilations and killings over the last 26 years. The 50-year-old Ugandan launched his guerilla army in 1987 and claims to be fighting under God's orders to establish a society based on the Bible's Ten Commandments. Because of Kony, at least 30,000 children have been abducted or have been forced to work as sex slaves or soldiers. More than 1.5 million people have had to flee their homes. This guy is famous for being a really terrible guy, and that’s the whole point behind Invisible Children’s Kony 2012 campaign: to make him famous for the wrong reasons.

However, after all the hubbub over cross posted links, many hits to the video, celebrities making us all aware with their hashtags and profound stances on the matter, speculation came into play when some news out on the wires has questioned Invisible Children’s financial allocations and actual charity.

Invisible Children has distorted the line between charity and politics, advocating direct military action. They have also been accused of providing financial support to the Ugandan government’s military and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army, both of which have regularly been charged with human rights abuses.

The group denies the claim, saying “none of the money donated through Invisible Children ever goes to the government of Uganda. Yet the only feasible and proper way to stop Kony and protect the civilians he targets is to coordinate efforts with regional governments.”

Following the criticism, Invisible Children responded with a full statement disclosing its financial statements as well as address its mission:

“Invisible Children’s mission is to stop LRA violence and support the war affected communities in Central Africa. These are the three ways we achieve that mission. Each is essential: 1) Document and make the world aware of the LRA. This includes making documentary films and touring these films around the world so that they are seen for free by millions of people. 2) Channeling the energy and awareness from informed viewers of IC films into large scale advocacy campaigns that have mobilized the international community to stop the LRA and protect civilians. 3) Operate programs on the ground in the LRA-affected areas to provide protection, rehabilitation and development assistance.”

Really, the biggest criticism is akin to the Komen foundation debacle earlier this year. Invisible Children is a charity, it wants to do good things, but people are upset where the money is going and in this case, not knowing where all of the money is going.

The lesson learned here is simple. Social media are a substantial force. If you want to get a lot of people onto something, put it out to the social media ether. It will get people talking, it will make people aware, and it will certainly suggest that everyone dig a little deeper.

So many more people know about Kony than they did before, which was the end goal of Invisible Children.




Edited by Rich Steeves
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