Hit back at Kony? There's an app for that!

Want to get back at Ugandan guerrilla leader Joseph Kony for all the violence he has been linked to? There's an app for that.

 

A controversial app debuted for the Android platform Thursday, with its maker claiming that virtual violence against Kony could be "therapeutic".  

"This is a therapeutic way to allow you to get out your frustrations I often go and hit the speed bag or the punching bag, and I feel a 100 percent better afterwards. This is a novel/virtual way to accomplish some of the same therapeutic practices to deal with this fracas," Wayne Irving, CEO and Founder of Iconosys, told tech site Mashable, which reported on the app.

 

Mashable said the app comes amid attention on Uganda sparked by the “Kony 2012” video on YouTube, which looms as the most viral YouTube video.

 

Kony reportedly kidnapped children in the country, requiring them to become soldiers for the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).

 

A video demo on YouTube asks users if they "(w)ant to Kick Joseph Kony's Ass." "There's an app for that," reads the reply.  

 

“Simply tapping on the screen in different areas determines whether you get to provide Kony with a Roundhouse, a 1-2, a left, a right, and finally, a big hand to the face. The more you tap the screen, the more punishment you get to give Kony. Finally, you can share your experience with the game on your Facebook page, directly from the embedded game-over screen,” Mashable quoted a company press release as saying.

 

But Iconosys insisted "Kick Kony’s Ass" does "not endorse violence in any way.”

 

Mashable also said Iconosys’ press release concludes with a quote from the Invisible Children’s website: “Invisible Children Uses Film, Creativity And Social Action To End The Use Of Child Soldiers In Joseph Kony’s Rebel War And Restore LRA-Affected Communities In Central Africa To Peace And Prosperity.”

 

While the app is available now for Android, Iconosys plans to release an iOS version of the game soon.

 

Mashable said Iconosys plans to donate any net proceeds from the app’s sale to “the World Children’s Fund and/ or other charities helping the children of this region of the world.” — TJD, GMA News