'Stop Kony' Internet campaign goes viral
Source: Agencies |
March 9, 2012, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
IF Joseph Kony lived in relative anonymity before this week, he now has Internet infamy. A video about the atrocities carried out by Kony's Lord's Resistance Army has gone viral, racking up millions more views seemingly by the hour.
The marketing campaign is an effort by the advocacy group Invisible Children to vastly increase awareness about a jungle militia leader who is wanted for atrocities by the International Criminal Court and is being hunted by 100 US Special Forces advisers and local troops in four Central African countries.
The group's 30-minute video, which was released on Monday, had more than 32 million views on YouTube by yesterday. The movie is part of an effort called KONY 2012 that targets Kony and the LRA.
"Kony is a monster. He deserves to be prosecuted and hanged," said Colonel Felix Kulayigye, the spokesman for Uganda's military.
But Kulayigye said that Kony's forces have been so degraded that he no longer considers Kony a threat to the region. Because of the intensified hunt for Kony, his forces split into smaller groups that can travel the jungle more easily.
Experts estimate that the LRA now has only about 250 fighters. Still, it abducts children, forcing them to serve as soldiers or sex slaves, and even kill their parents or each other. The LRA operates in Congo, the Central African Republic and South Sudan.
Uganda, Invisible Children and #stopkony were among the top 10 trending terms on Twitter both worldwide and in the US on Wednesday.
The marketing campaign is an effort by the advocacy group Invisible Children to vastly increase awareness about a jungle militia leader who is wanted for atrocities by the International Criminal Court and is being hunted by 100 US Special Forces advisers and local troops in four Central African countries.
The group's 30-minute video, which was released on Monday, had more than 32 million views on YouTube by yesterday. The movie is part of an effort called KONY 2012 that targets Kony and the LRA.
"Kony is a monster. He deserves to be prosecuted and hanged," said Colonel Felix Kulayigye, the spokesman for Uganda's military.
But Kulayigye said that Kony's forces have been so degraded that he no longer considers Kony a threat to the region. Because of the intensified hunt for Kony, his forces split into smaller groups that can travel the jungle more easily.
Experts estimate that the LRA now has only about 250 fighters. Still, it abducts children, forcing them to serve as soldiers or sex slaves, and even kill their parents or each other. The LRA operates in Congo, the Central African Republic and South Sudan.
Uganda, Invisible Children and #stopkony were among the top 10 trending terms on Twitter both worldwide and in the US on Wednesday.
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