The Kony 2012 campaign promised to make famous Joseph Kony, the notorious Ugandan warlord whose Lords Resistance Army has been responsible for terrorising and kidnapping children forcing them to become soldiers. The film about the campaign has now been viewed 90m times on YouTube alone after it went viral, primarily on Facebook.
But while the internet can make a campaign, it can also break it, and there was a furious backlash against the depiction of the conflict and their tactics. Invisible Children, the charity behind the campaign, was accused of simplifying the story of Kony – Ugandan people were furious that their country was depicted as being war torn whereas in fact Kony and the LRA no longer operate there.
When the initial story broke I blogged asking what the real story of Kony was, documenting the growing scepticism about the campaign – but also the awe at its scale.
Six weeks later, what has the campaign achieved? And will Friday's "Cover the night" protest, in which Invisible Children is urging people to plaster the world's cities with branded images to urge governments to intervene, actually make any difference? This week I'm investigating these questions ahead of Friday's action. I'm hoping that like with the first blog, readers will send me evidence, ideas for interviews and links to relevant interviews and together we can draw some conclusions and lasting lessons from the campaign.
I'm going to look at the political response so far to the campaign – in American, the UK and most importantly Africa. I'm going to look at what we have learnt about Invisible Children's finances and motivations and I'm also interested in how this changes global campaigning and update this blog as I find information out.
Get in touch below the line, tweet @pollycurtis or email me at polly.curtis@guardian.co.uk.
I'm going to start with a timeline of events and some key questions:
Timeline
March 5, 2012: the original film is published. It acknowledged that there are US efforts in place to support a military removal of Kony and the LRA but its major demand is a call to the US government to safeguard that presence.
March 7: this film was published by Rosebell Kagumire, a Uganda journalist, and it reflected much of the criticisms. The major charge is that Kony is no longer operating in Uganda, which the film focuses on, but thought to be in the DRC. His army is much diminished and Ugandans complained that their country was being unfairly represented.
March 9: the US confirms it has no intention to withdraw its support from Uganda and the region.
March 12: the US House of Representatives backs a resolution (pfd) condemning Kony, supporting the citizen led campaign in the US and the military efforts in Africa and pledging greater support – particularly to encourage defections from the LRA. Film stars including Angelina Jolie back the campaign.
March 14: the Kony 2012 film is publicly screened in Uganda for the first time to angry reactions.
March 17: the Ugandan prime minister puts out this official response.
March 17: the director of Invisible Children who featured in the first film along with his son is hospitalised for "brief reactive psychosis" which his family said was brought on by the stress of the campaign.
March 20: Radhika Coomaraswamy, the UN secretary-general's special representative for children and armed conflict, calls for the Kony2012 campaign to divert its funds from supporting military action to capture Kony to reintegration programmes for former child soldiers.
March 21: US Senate introduces a bi-partisan resolution condemning the LRA, supporting African Union attempts to capture him and urging continued US intelligence support.
March 23: the UK secretary of state for international development Andrew Mitchell backs the campaign to get rid of Kony by falls short of endorsing Invisible Children. Asked whether he would advise people to donate to the Invisible Children appeal, he told the Guardian: "People must make up their own minds about that. On any of these appeals, it's always a case of caveat emptor [buyer beware]."
March 24: the African Union announces a new 5,000 joint force, with support from the US, to track down the LRA. It will be led by Uganda and include troops from the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan, the countries that have been ravaged by LRA raids.
April 5: This is a follow-up film Invisible Children published to address the mounting criticisms about its campaign. Fronted by Jolly Okot, Invisible Children's director in Uganda, it acknowledges the geographical realities of the conflict but insists that a military response is necessary.
April 5: a response apparently from the LRA is published accusing Invisible Children of being part of a humanitarian from for the US attempts to expand its "hegemonic" powers.
April 20: Invisible Children launch the "Cover the night" campaign.
Questions
Has the US Senate and House of Representatives made any difference?
Was the African Union response triggered by the Invisible Children campaign?
What have we learnt about Invisible Children's motivations?
And two further broader questions...
Has Kony 2012 changed global advocacy forever?
Is a military response the right way forward in tackling the LRA?
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