Friday 9 March 2012

Kony 2012 Campaign - doing more bad than good?

I'm not going to waste time explaining who Joseph Kony or the Invisible Children are... because I'm pretty sure everyone (or anyone!) reading this will know about them by now. The Kony 2012 video has been viewed (so far) 55,000,000 times. At first, I was completely taken up with it, wanting to get the action kit and everything. However after reading some views about the campaign, I'm not sure I feel so positive about it...

Many people are arguing, and on reflection I think I might agree, that it seems quite silly to think that the problems of a man like Kony (and the violence in Uganda altogether) can be solved through just bracelets and posters. Additionally, Invisible Children have been accused of over-simlifying an incredibly complicated situation. While this may be true, it can be said that you have to start somewhere! Invisible Children are also helping the Ugandan army - who have been accused of rape and other crimes. It had also been said that since Kony and his rebel group have not been in Uganda since 2006, we should be focusing on the issues actually posing a threat.

I'm still not really sure how I feel about the campaign. While I think there are various flaws, I don't see how people being aware of the situation can be wrong. And if people are trying to fight for justice, that doesn't seem a bad thing either. But it does seem that the video is causing people to take a very complicated situation and say 'we can solve it with bracelets'. 

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