Video shows anti-vaccine and anti-monarchy protests, not 'Australians' rally for Indonesia president'
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on July 23, 2023 at 12:27
- 6 min read
- By AFP Indonesia
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The video was shared here on TikTok on May 14, 2023, where it has been viewed more than 28,000 times.
Speaking in the Indonesian language, the narrator says at the beginning of the video: "While chanting Jokowi's name, thousands of Australians wave the red and white flag", referring to Indonesian President Joko Widodo by his nickname and the Indonesian flag that features two horizontal bands, with red at the top and white at the bottom (archived link).
Indonesian-language sticker text overlaid on the video says: "Viral!! Australians enthusiastically wave Indonesia's red and white flag after reaching peace over Ashmore Reef with Indonesia" and "Mr Jokowi is amazing".
The three-minute, 53-second video contains various clips showing crowds rallying on the streets and protesters talking to the camera.
At the eight-second mark of the clip, a male protester can be seen talking to the camera with Indonesian subtitles that read: "We thank Indonesia very much for the peace treaty of Pulau Pasir" -- the Indonesian name for Ashmore Reef.
Meanwhile, at the 24-second mark, Indonesian subtitles purport a female protester saying: "This is good news for all of us. Australians are all happy to hear this."
The video, which has circulated since at least December 2022, also appeared alongside a similar claim, on TikTok here, here and here, and on YouTube here, racking up more than 891,000 views.
In October 2022, Indonesian media, including state-run news agency Antara, reported that an Indonesian fisherman had intended to file a lawsuit against Australia over its "ownership of Pulau Pasir" (archived link).
Ashmore Reef is part of MoU Box, an area in the Australian waters in the Timor Sea that can be accessed by Indonesian traditional fishers based on a 1974 agreement between the two neighbouring countries (archived links here and here).
The claim, however, is false.
2022 anti-vaccine protest in New Zealand
The video begins with a scene that shows protesters standing near road barriers and holding up posters with slogans.
A Google reverse image search found that the the clip corresponds with a BBC video report about a protest against Covid-19 vaccines in February 2022 in New Zealand (archived link).
According to the BBC, on February 14, 2022, New Zealand's authorities blasted British singer James Blunt's hit song "You're Beautiful" and viral children's tune "Baby Shark" as they tried to disperse protesters who had been sitting outside the parliament, in the capital Wellington, for a week (archived link).
A video from Al Jazeera, posted on YouTube on the same day, also shows the same scenes as in the BBC video (archived link).
Below is a screenshot comparison of the false video (left) and the BBC video (right), with corresponding features marked by AFP:
2021 anti-vaccine protest in Australia
At the three-second mark, the false video shows thousands of people filling the streets, with a long red and white banner being carried by the crowd.
A reverse image search on Google found that the video actually shows protesters in Melbourne, Australia, who rallied against Covid-19 vaccination mandates in November 2021, as reported by Australian broadcaster 9 News (archived link).
The news footage was also published on the YouTube channel of 9 News on November 27, 2021 (archived link).
Below is a screenshot comparison of the false video (left) and the video from 9 News (right):
Under closer examination, it appears the long red and white banner is not an Indonesian flag, but likely a Polish flag, which features the same two colours but in reverse order.
Poland's national flag, as seen with the long banner in the videos, consists of two bands, with white at the top and red at the bottom (archived link). The long banner is attached to an Australian flag, which suggests, assuming correct orientation, that the white band of the banner is the top, as it is in a Polish flag.
Below is a screenshot of the 9 News report, showing the long white and red banner and the Australian flag.
After World War II, many Polish refugees immigrated to Australia, and Greater Melbourne has the largest Poland-born population in Australia, according to 2021 census data (archived links here and here).
2022 anti-monarchy protests in Australia
The false video also shows a man and a woman talking to the camera, as well as people marching on the street while holding a protest banner that says "ABOLISH THE MONARCHY. BILLION$ IN STOLENWEALTH" -- a likely pun on the Commonwealth.
A combination of Google reverse image and keyword searches found that the scenes actually match a news report on anti-monarchy demonstrations in Sydney and Melbourne, published by Indian news channel WION on September 22, 2022 (archived link).
The Australian government had announced that day would be a national holiday to mourn Queen Elizabeth, who died on September 8, 2022.
In the genuine video, the male protester could be heard saying: "The monarchy represents everything that's wrong with the world today."
Meanwhile, the female protester said: "Everyday of our life is mourning. It's not just one day. January 26, that's our day of mourning" -- referring to Australia Day (archived link).
Below is a screenshot comparison of the false video (left) and the video from WION (right):
Some of the scenes are identical to a Reuters video report about the anti-monarchy protests in Australia on September 22, 2022 (archived link).
Clips of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Governor General David Hurley giving a speech in the false video were taken from the memorial service for Queen Elizabeth, held at the parliament in Canberra on the same day (archived link).
There are no mentions about Indonesian President Jokowi in any of the genuine videos.
False claims purporting a non-existent feud between Indonesia and Australia over Ashmore Reef have circulated for months among Indonesian social media users, despite multiple statements from Indonesian officials that there is no such dispute between the two neighbouring countries.
AFP previously debunked a similar false claim about Australians rallying to support Indonesia over Ashmore Reef here and other false claims about armed conflicts between the two countries here, here and here.
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