Rallies over financial points in Indonesia intensified and unfold after a younger supply driver was killed by a paramilitary police unit in late August, however footage circulating on-line of a protest by scores of drivers was not filmed throughout latest demonstrations in Jakarta. Comparable footage was utilized in information reviews about an unrelated protest by ride-hailing drivers in Jember, East Java in Might.
“Demonstrators heading to the Home of Representatives on August 25,” reads the Indonesian-language caption of a YouTube video shared on August 25, 2025.
The video, which seems to indicate a protest by motorcycle and scooter drivers, circulated as a number of hundred protesters rallied exterior Indonesia’s parliament in Jakarta (archived hyperlink).
The demonstration was fuelled by public anger over lavish advantages for lawmakers that embody a housing allowance of fifty million Indonesian rupiah (roughly US$3,000) a month — almost 10 occasions the minimal wage within the capital — and have come to incorporate anger towards police.
Not less than six folks have been killed for the reason that protests erupted and unfold to different cities, intensified by footage spreading of the killing of a younger supply driver by a paramilitary police unit (archived hyperlink).
Screenshot of the false YouTube put up captured on September 1, 2025, with a pink X added by AFP
The clip was additionally shared in comparable YouTube and X posts.
Whereas 1000’s of motorbike drivers have taken half within the August protests, the video doesn’t present drivers making their method to an indication on the Home of Representatives in Jakarta.
A reverse picture search on Google utilizing keyframes from the falsely shared video led to comparable footage shared on the verified YouTube channel of native broadcaster KompasTV Jember on Might 21 (archived hyperlink).
Its caption says: “The protest started with a convoy of ride-hailing drivers throughout Jember metropolis and ended on the Jember district authorities workplace. They voiced calls for for changes to ride-hailing fares, which they thought of unfair.”
Screenshot comparability of the falsely shared video (left) and the KompasTV video (proper)
Furthermore, the falsely shared video corresponds to Google Avenue View imagery of Gajah Mada Avenue in Jember (archived hyperlink).
Screenshot comparability of the falsely shared video (left) and Google Avenue View imagery from Jember (proper), with corresponding parts highlighted by AFP
AFP has additionally debunked different misinformation associated to the protests.
