Kony 2012: Unprecedented Viral Videos Message, Backlash Examined

MARGARET WARNER:

It urges viewers to contact these 40 prominent people through Twitter, telephone and other means, and pressure them to speak out or act.

But the campaign also has generated an online outburst of criticism of Invisible Children for its fund-raising methods and its message, among other things. For example, a blogger in Britain's Independent newspaper argued Wednesday that the group should also be concerned about government abuses in Uganda.

He wrote, "When a bad guy like Kony is running riot for years on end, raping and slashing and seizing and shooting, then there is most likely another host of bad guys out there letting him get on with it."

In response, Invisible Children said it doesn't condone human rights abuses by anyone.

And for more about the global phenomenon of this video and the larger story in Uganda, we turn to Emira Woods — she tracks Africa developments at the Institute for Policy Studies — and Dawn Arteaga, a digital strategist for the public relations firm Porter Novelli in Washington.

Welcome to you both.

Dawn Arteaga, beginning with you, how big a deal, how remarkable a phenomenon is this video in the world of social media?

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