If Joseph Kony lived in relative anonymity before this week, he's an internet star now.
A video about the atrocities carried out by Kony's Lord's Resistance Army, called Kony 2012, has racked up nearly 50 million views since Monday.
The marketing campaign is an effort by the advocacy group Invisible Children to dramatically increase awareness about a jungle militia leader who is wanted for atrocities by the International Criminal Court and is being hunted by 100 US Special Forces advisers and local troops in four Central African countries.
Warlord: Joseph Kony, seen here in 2006, is a hunted
warlord in northern Uganda who is accused of recruiting tens of thousands of
child soldiers
Wanted man: Kony was indicted by the International
Criminal Court on 12 counts of crimes against humanity and 21 counts of war
crimes is accused of killing thousands and displacing up to 2 million
people
Infamous: Invisible Children's campaign has made Kony a
household name with the hope that pressure on the US government will keep
American troops hunting for him in Uganda
Uganda, Invisible Children and #stopkony were among the top 10 trending terms on Twitter among both the worldwide and US audience on Wednesday night, ranking higher than New iPad or Peyton Manning. Twitter's top trends more commonly include celebrities than fugitive militants.
And some of America's most visible celebrities have thrown their weight behind the campaign. Oprah Winfrey, Tori Spelling, Sean 'Diddy' Combs, Rhianna and four Kardashians have tweeted about the warlord.
Even teenage pop star Justin Bieber, the second-most popular user on Twitter, promoted Invisible Children's message several times including: '#Kony2012 is number 1 trending topic on Twitter worldwide!! See why ... It might change ur life.'
Kony has recruited up to 66,000 child soldiers in the past two decades. His troops often come into villages and kill the adults then rape the girls and force the boys to fight in his army.
'Kony is a monster. He deserves to be prosecuted and hanged,' said Col Felix Kulayigye, the spokesman for Uganda's military.
Support: Sean 'Diddy' Combs has mentioned the #stopcony
campaign several times in his tweets
Viral: Four Kardashians, including Kim, have thrown their
considerable social media weight behind the cause
He was one of the first people indicted by the International Criminal Court and has been evading capture by international authorities since 2005.
Man with a mission: Jason Russell, the filmmaker who
devised the 30-minute video, helped found the aid group Invisible Children
BELOW IS THE VIDEO
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