YouTube launches Human Rights Channel

Gone are the days when YouTube simply served as a portal for viral videos that are entertaining and cute -- but not much more.

After effectively offering a soundboard to Egypt’s revolutionaries and educating 90 million-plus people about the atrocious crimes committed by warlord Joseph Kony, the video-sharing site has decided to commit an entire channel to human rights issues, the site announced Thursday.

"In the case of human rights," YouTube announced on its blog, "video plays a particularly important role in illuminating what occurs when governments and individuals in power abuse their positions."

To help execute the channel, YouTube has joined forces with its nonprofit parter, WITNESS, a global leader in the use of video for human rights, and Storyful, a social newsgathering operation. The goal is to enable citizen journalists and organizations to upload footage of under-reported human rights stories and galvanize viewers to take action.