By: Paolo Ramos/Staff Writer
The recent phenomenon of the Kony 2012 campaign by the interest group Invisible Children has exhibited the enormous utility of the Internet as a mass medium for the dissemination of information, or, in the case of Kony 2012, misinformation.
The campaign, heralded by the 30-minute video produced by Invisible Children co-founder Jason Russell, is an attempt to educate viewers on the injustices committed by Joseph Kony, the head of a Ugandan guerrilla group known as the Lord’s Resistance Army, which seeks to mold the Ugandan government according to its theocratic beliefs.
The investment of Invisible Children in this issue stems from the fact that the LRA recruited children as sex slaves and child soldiers in its activities.
The video, which was released on March 5, capitalizes on the devastation caused by Kony and the LRA in Uganda and serves as a call to action for people worldwide to increase awareness of the affairs of the Ugandan government and its people.
There is a commercial aspect to the video too. Invisible Children is advocating the purchase of items, such as bracelets and t-shirts, to spread the message, and to encourage viewers to donate to the cause.
The video also dramatically oversimplifies the issues concerned with Kony’s movements, neglecting to mention that Kony has not had any significant impact in Uganda since 2006.
Kony is estimated to have less than 300 fighters, most of which are now located outside of Uganda in several regions of Central Africa.
The Kony 2012 campaign, though successful in the proliferation of its message, fails to mention the actual state of affairs in Uganda today.
The video uses footage from nearly a decade ago, when Kony was still active in Uganda.
As of today, Kony is of little relevance to the political activity in the country.
In response to the Kony 2012 campaign, Ugandan Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi said, “Kony is not in Uganda. The country is not in conflict.”
The Ugandan people have also expressed anger with the Kony 2012 campaign.
An article in Al Jazeera covered a public screening of the video. It was followed by negative reactions, particularly towards the lack of perspective from actual Ugandan people.
The most significant effect of the Kony 2012 campaign is the encouragement of “slacktivism” through its viral marketing techniques.
The campaign utilized Youtube, Facebook and Twitter to perpetuate the message.
The spread of information through these portals calls for inevitable simplification, which should not be applied to situations occurring in Uganda.
By simplifying the details, the nearly 80 million viewers of the video are left with nothing but a gross generalization of the conflict.
Also, the usage of social networking has created a false sense of responsibility among the technological savvy younger generation.
By simply sharing the information through social media, people feel like they have done their duty when it simply isn’t enough.
True activism requires careful consideration and full understanding of the issue.
Kony 2012 has shown that although the Internet has increased the flow of information, it does not have safeguards against inaccurate information.
What younger generations need to realize is that rarely can you ever get a full understanding of anything through social networking alone.
Objective analysis is a tool that seems to be at risk in the social networking age.
Everything online needs to be taken with a grain of salt, no matter how noble the cause.
paolo.ramos@fiusm.com
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