Old Indonesian Protest Videos Misrepresented As Recent Jakarta Unrest; Local Media Did Report Events

Months-old footage of demonstrations in Indonesia has resurfaced on social media with false claims that it shows recent mass protests in Jakarta which major news outlets allegedly ignored. The posts recycled authentic clips but misrepresented their timing and coverage.

Screenshot of a false post containing comparable protest footage captured on August 11, 2026, with a red X added by AFP

What Was Shared

A widely circulated TikTok clip overlaid with Indonesian-language text reading "Protest today" appeared to show large crowds being held back by police barriers. Comparable videos — including dramatic footage of a building on fire — were also posted on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok with captions suggesting these were new events that mainstream media had failed to cover.

Screenshot comparison of the false post (L) and TikTok video

“Protest today.”

Verification And Findings

Verification using reverse-image searches and keyword checks traced the main protest video to a TikTok post published on 12 June 2026. That clip corresponds to a student rally at the Indonesia Hotel (HI) Roundabout in Central Jakarta. Background buildings in the footage match Google Street View images of the HI Roundabout area, and AFP photographers documented the same demonstration.

This aerial picture shows students protesting to demand a reduction in fuel prices and the dissolution of the free meal program, which they consider to be a hotbed of corruption, in Jakarta on June 12, 2026BAY ISMOYOAFP

Local outlets Tempo and Kompas, as well as state agency Antara and news channel Kilat, reported on the June 12 rallies. AFP published photos and reports describing hundreds of students protesting rising non-subsidised fuel prices and alleged budget waste, including the contested Free Nutritious Meals programme.

Police officers push back a barricade as university students protest against a steep rise in non-subsidised fuel prices and the government's budget waste, urging authorities to halt the free school meals programme (MBG), in Jakarta on June 12, 2026Aditya IrawanAFP

Footage of a burning building used in the misleading posts was identified as an older incident from August 2025, showing the Makassar Regional Council building in South Sulawesi. Regional reporting at the time — corroborated by AFP, Kompas and Antara — said the fire followed violent unrest in which at least three people were killed.

Screenshot comparison of false post (L) and YouTube video

Context

The June 2026 demonstrations followed the government’s decision to raise prices for non-subsidised gasoline, a step officials said was necessary to ease budget pressure amid global oil supply disruptions linked to the Middle East war. These rallies are part of a wider youth-led movement protesting economic hardship, perceived corruption, and expensive state programmes such as the Free Nutritious Meals initiative and newly created village cooperatives.

Screenshot comparison of footage used in the false post (L) and in an August 2025 Instagram post

Indonesia also experienced its largest unrest since President Prabowo Subianto took office in 2024 during protests in August–September 2024 that began over lawmakers’ perks and escalated after a delivery driver was killed by a police vehicle.

Conclusion

The social posts recycled authentic but older footage — notably the 12 June 2026 student rally in central Jakarta and the August 2025 Makassar building fire — and falsely claimed those events were recent and unreported. In reality, major Indonesian news organisations and AFP covered these incidents; the online narrative that the mainstream media ignored the protests is misleading.