March 13, 2012 | Read Time: 1 minute
Invisible Children, the San Diego advocacy group behind the viral video sensation “Kony 2012,” released a new video Monday responding to critics who have questioned the group’s spending and mission, the Los Angeles Times and the Associated Press report.
The charity’s original half-hour film calling for a global effort to arrest and prosecute Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony, who became notorious during the country’s civil conflict for kidnapping children to serve in his militia. The online video has been viewed as many as 100 million times.
Widespread attention to Invisible Children from the video raised questions about its finances, particularly its spending on travel and promotion as weighed against on-the-ground projects in Africa. Critics say the video misstates the threat now posed by Kony, widely viewed as a spent force in the Ugandan conflict, and represents social-media “slacktivism” rather than genuine action.
“I understand why people are wondering is this is just some slick, kind of fly-by-night slacktivist thing,” the CEO of Invisible Children, Ben Keesey, says in the new video. But “it’s not at all,” he says. “It’s connected to a really deep, thoughtful, very intentional and strategic campaign.”
Mr. Keesey says more than 80 percent of the group’s spending goes to “program expenses,” and the video includes footage of Invisible Children initiatives in Uganda and neighboring countries.
Read a Chronicle of Philanthropy article on the Kony campaign and online advocacy.
