Kony 2012 and Invisible Children

[ThE_DeAd]

So I'm not a late comer to the Kony 2012 online movement which appears to have taken North America by storm. I'm just interested to hear people's opinions on Invisible Children as an organization and their current campaign.

For anyone who hasn't heard of this, Kony 2012 is essentially a Campaign which seeks to make LRA General Joseph Kony a household name in order to bring him to justice for his war crimes. Some have called IC's campaign misguided and misinforming. For the full story of their campaign please see their youtube video in the link below.

I would like to state that I am neither an advocate nor an active critic of this movement. I am strictly interested in facilitating an open minded discussion regarding this controversial.

Kony 2012 Wiki Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kony_2012#Negative

 

[Kami]

I think it's pointless. Kony hasn't been active for six years, if not longer; the kill count they boast is over the span of twenty years and nothing recent. The leader of Uganda has called the Kony 2012 campaign detrimental to his country, especially when there are other, known terrorists in the area. There is evidence that Kony isn't even in the country and hasn't been for years.

While I don't think that he's a good human being that deserves to be defended, Kony 2012 is a campaign that sensationalises something that, while not 'concluded', wasn't exactly a HUGE threat (if that makes sense). http://visiblechildren.tumblr.com/ is a group that ... isn't necessary a counter-movement (because i think we can all agree that Kony is awful, to put it mildly), but calls into question with very compelling evidence the organisation known as Invisible Children.

 

[Ochalla]

You may be interested in reading what various members said about this several months ago. I recall there was some talk of it being slightly scammish.

http://www.iwakuroleplay.com/showthread.php?t=8681

 

[ThE_DeAd]

This is exactly what i was looking for, thanks Chatelaine. Ill look for another topic to bring to the table

 

[Hecatoncheires]

Slightly depressing to see this cause is still doing the rounds.

I think I summed up my opinion of KONY 2012 and Invisible Children in that thread Ocha linked; all I'll add is that there's been a couple other disturbing developments with this story since I wrote that. Such as the fact that Invisible Children's chief members are in pretty tight with important figures within a religious group called 'The Family', who stirred controversy when they attempted to put into place a bill in Uganda that would have made homosexuality punishable by death or life imprisonment.

Basically fuck KONY 2012 and fuck Invisible Children too. It's more than just idiot idealism; it's stealth-evangelism tied up in a nice homophobic little bundle.