Kony 2012: In Defence of Justin Bieber and AnonyOps

There's a certain smugness causing a stench over some editorials this week.

On March 5th 2012, the charity Invisible Children sought to raise awareness of the plight of child soldiers in Uganda. Not since Band Aid in 1984 has awareness of a human rights situation gone so viral, so quickly.

Now, as then, the critics are out with their supercilious smiles, writing poison pen journals in an attempt to put the genie back in the bottle.

Columnists more used to charting the progress of Lady Gaga and the Kardashians are suddenly having to appear knowledgeable about Ugandan politics. It's not a happy mix. It's not made any better by the fact that said celebrities by the drove are lining up to Tweet or utter sound-bites against Joseph Kony.

It seems that everyone is vying to establish their credentials. Of course they were the first to have known about the horrors perpetrated by the Lord's Resistance Army! It's nothing at all to do with Kony 2012! They've known for years!

And they are using this position to undermine the very campaign which seeks to raise awareness of these issues.

I've never been a massive Justin Bieber fan. I'm not anti- him either. I'm just a little old for his particular charms.

But when he tweeted about Kony 2012, I cheered.

18 million Beliebers were suddenly aware of a human rights abuse. 18 million young people were simultaneously learning about global issues. 18 million individuals were motivated to research child soldiers.

Then I read the oozing words of reprimand issuing from The Independent, amongst many others. I was so irritated, that I nearly went out and bought Bieber's whole back catalog on general principles.

'Even Justin Bieber got in on it. "Joseph Kony is a dirtbag," one of his retweets read. Another: "It's so important to follow what's going on in the world!"  It sure is, Justin! And well done you for investing the half hour it took to watch the video before redistributing it. But there's a problem here. Those 30 minutes might not have given you a complete understanding of the issues. (I know!)'

When Villains go Viral by Archie Bland, The Independent (March 9th 2012)

The irony being that the journalist displayed no real grasp of the issues himself either. The whole tone of the piece was merely to swipe at celebrities, with Bieber at the forefront, for even contemplating raising awareness about Joseph Kony.

He did link to another article, written by Angelo Opi-Aiya Izama, as justification for his censure. Yet this article seemed to be making the argument that everyone should shut up about Joseph Kony, because it was years ago and anyway he's fled Uganda.

Oh. That's ok then. But isn't that implicit in the video? Given that it's all about an adult survivor telling his story? And should we now seek to agree that all ills may be forgiven, as long as the perpetrator evades capture for seven years?

Writing as someone who was politicized at twelve years old, by a combination of in your face Thatcherism and the rock band U2, I feel that a point has been missed along the way. If just one of those 18 million fans is so outraged by what he or she reads, that they become a human rights campaigner, then something good just happened.

What if that person then becomes the next Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Sojourner Truth or Daw Aung San Suu Kyi? Then the good becomes amazing.

Of course no-one is suggesting that Justin Bieber alone can and should save the world. That's not his job. His remit, insofar as an old biddy like me can ascertain, is to entertain people with songs and live performances. He appears to be doing this extremely well.

Then, if he uses that world-wide platform to highlight serious issues, that should be regarded as a huge, fundamental bonus. 18 million fans have just potentially been politicized and who knows how that may pan out in the future.

Meanwhile, in the 4chan-grew-up world of Reddit, the cynicism may have gone a bit too far.

'I'm sorry, but why is AnonyOps jumping on the Kony bandwagon?' bleats one poster. (S)He was scathingly referring to publicity provided by one of Anonymous's mouthpiece Twitter accounts.

The word 'bandwagon' has been bandied around a lot, in relation to Kony 2012, as if human rights should only be protested from the standpoint of a rebel outpost. The whole question is framed in such a way as to denigrate AnonyOps's involvement. It issues a stop-word, designed to end all debate.

Those sympathetic to either the campaign, or Anonymous's specific involvement, would necessarily be diverted into talking about fashions and fads. Nothing of import can be discussed, as long as words like 'bandwagon' obscure the central question.

Nor does it link back to the original tweet, so that readers may form their opinions based on AnonyOps's actual words.

In short, it aligns the poster with those journalists desperate for Kony 2012 to just go away. Given the tendency for Reddit users to rise up and fight the good fight, if the issue is to their liking (they did, after all, come up with the anti-SOPA internet strike), then a return to the banal surely cannot be the motivation.

The wording and target seem to point to popularity being the factor. You can't have your great rebellion, if the cause has gone mainstream; which says much more about the poster than either AnonyOps or Kony 2012.

If patronizing journalists and immature Reddit users have their way, then all talk of child soldiers will be over by this time tomorrow. So what then?

Those vulnerable to public perception and peer pressure will be wary of ever supporting another human rights issue. Too many hurt feelings and red faces abound. Everyone can safely go back to the familiar territory of celebrity worship and consumer satisfaction.

In the meantime, Joseph Kony still hasn't been brought to justice; and anyone asking the pertinent questions about that will find support an up-hill struggle. Moreover, misinformation met misinformation swiftly across the way, leaving the actual story muddied in its wake.

This isn't just about Uganda and Kony. It's about every other figure just like him, across the globe and encompassing a whole gallery of horrors.

So beyond the backlash, who and what was actually served?

KONY 2012 – A Scam or Not?
The past two days have made me realized just how many cynical people there are in this world. There are people who are really behind this good cause, and there are others who sit on their high horse...

Invisible Children's Official Response
... We are advocating for the arrest of Joseph Kony so that he can be tried by the International Criminal Court (ICC) as a precedent for future war criminals...

Kony 2012 is No Scam: Understand the Facts Before You Criticize Invisible Children
With good reason and mostly good intentions, critics of the viral “KONY 2012” activism movie produced by Invisible Children have complained a lot about the organization’s supposedly “shady” finances.