Community Corner

Kony 2012 Biggest Viral Video Ever

A San Diego-based charity has produced a video attacking a central African warlord, and it has gone viral, especially on college campuses.

It's a viral YouTube video that has nothing to do with cats playing with string, babies laughing or teen hearthrobs singing love songs. 

It details what it says are atrocities against the young who have been forced into paramilitary service and sex slavery at the hands of Joseph Kony, leader of a Ugandan resistance force. 

The 27-minute Youtube documentary by Invisible Children went viral this week, garnering more than 49 million viewers, the largest for a video promoted solely on social media, according to CBS News (see embedded video).

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It has spread rapidly among college students, but also the general population, including on Facebook and Twitter. 

It was even referred to Thursday in the daily briefing for reporters by White House spokesperson Jay Carney.

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The premise is to raise awareness of Kony's war crimes, but there has been some criticism that the filmmaker, Jason Russell, has not given a large enough percentage of donations to his charity to the cause he is promoting.

Check out other coverage of the phenomenon in national news outlets, including CBS News, USA Today and the Huffington Post.

Let us know if you've watched the video and what you think about it in comments.


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