A video shows the terrible havoc a Ugandan warlord inflicts on his country and on his army of child soldiers-turned-slaves. In a few days it goes massively viral online with 14.4m views on Vimeo and more than 49m on YouTube at the time of writing.

It is spread via Facebook and Twitter, where suddenly it's a top trending topic.

It is a perfect example of the viral power of the Web, especially when it comes to making the public aware of sensitive issues. But criticism has started to arise about the accuracy of the information contained in the documentary, which has cast a shadow on the story.

The video in question is “KONY 2012”, a film campaign created by the non-profit group Invisible Children with the aim of raising international attention on the Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony, leader of the rebel called the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and gathering wide public support for his arrest following his indictment by the International Criminal Court in 2005.

With this roughly 30-minute-long video, Invisible Children wants to make Kony “famous” to keep pressure on US policymakers to ensure US don’t withdraw their support after President Obama authorised the deployment of 100 US army advisers to help the Ugandan military track down Kony last October.