Video shows bridges and highways in different countries, not 'undersea tunnel in Indonesia'

This article is more than one year old.
Published on August 19, 2023 at 06:13
6 min read
By AFP Indonesia

A video has been viewed more than a million times on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook after it was shared a false claim that it shows an undersea tunnel in Indonesia that connects the islands of Java and Bali. In fact, the video comprises clips and photos of infrastructures outside Indonesia, including Poland, France and China. A spokesperson for the Indonesian government also told AFP in August 2023 that no road links are being planned to connect the two islands.

"Made of glass, this 2-kilometre undersea toll road connects Java and Bali," reads the Indonesian-language text superimposed on this video, which was posted on TikTok on July 15, 2023.

The one-minute, 24-second video comprises several photos and clips showing highways, bridges, tunnels and a train that appears to go underwater. It has been viewed more than 1.4 million times

A female voice-over in Indonesian in the later part of the video switches to suggesting the tunnel is not yet built but is under planning. "When the construction is done, this undersea toll road will connect Java and Bali," the narrator says at the 33-second mark of the video.

Screenshot of the misleading TikTok video, taken on August 3, 2023

Java, Indonesia's most populated island, is located next to the resort island of Bali (archived link).

The two islands are connected by a ferry service, but no road links currently exist (archived link).

The video also appeared here on TikTok, here on Instagram, and here and here on Facebook, racking up more than 308,000 views in total.

But the claim is false.

Endra Atmawidjaja, a spokesperson for Indonesia's Public Works and People's Housing Ministry, told AFP that they have never planned to build the project as claimed in the misleading posts.

"Until now, the ministry has never planned or discussed things related to any construction of either an undersea toll road or a bridge to connect Java and Bali," Endra said in a WhatsApp message on August 2, 2023.

Misleading visuals

A combination of reverse image and keyword searches found that the video shows infrastructure projects outside Indonesia.

The first two photos show a highway part of Expressway S8 in Warsaw, Poland, as seen in Google Street View here and here (archived links here and here)

Below are screenshot comparisons of the video in the misleading post and Google Street View photos, with similar features highlighted by AFP:

Screenshot comparisons of the video in the misleading post and Google Street View photos

After the two images, the video switches to an aerial clip that shows the Caohai Tunnel in Kunming, China's Yunnan province.

The same clip was published on the official Facebook page of the People's Daily, China's state-run newspaper (archived link).

Below is a screengrab comparison of the video in the misleading post (left) and the People's Daily video (right):

Screenshot comparison between a part of the misleading video (left) and the People's Daily video (right)

Images on Google Maps also show the Caohai Tunnel has the same design as the tunnel seen in the misleading video (archived link).

Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in the misleading post (left) and the Caohai Tunnel as seen on Google Maps (right), with similarities highlighted by AFP:

Screenshot comparison of the video in the misleading post (left) and the Caohai Tunnel as seen on Google Maps (right)

The video then shows a picture of a pedestrian footbridge with an arch roof and a zig-zag pattern on the floor.

A keyword search reveals photo agency Alamy published a picture of a bridge in France on September 21, 2017, with the same design (archived link). It also identifies the footbridge as the Japan Bridge in Hauts-de-Seine, west of Paris.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in the misleading video (left) and the photo on Alamy's website (right):

Screenshot comparison of the video in the misleading video (left) and the photo on Alamy's website (right)

The video of cars driving through a multi-lane tunnel corresponds with this clip of Qingdao Jiaozhou Bay Tunnel, an undersea highway tunnel in the Chinese city of Qingdao (archived link).

Both clips show the same road signs, road dividers and similar reflections of red car lights on the tunnel's walls.

The style of the licence plates on the cars is consistent with those in China, according to the specialist website License Plates of the World (archived link).

However, the video in the misleading posts has been manipulated by adding images of swimming sea animals on the ceiling of the tunnel.

For example, the clip of a swimming whale previously appeared in this music video, titled "Whale Sounds Deep Underwater & Ocean Piano Relaxation Sleep Music", posted on YouTube in December 2020 (archived link).

Below are screenshot comparisons of the video in the misleading post (left) and a genuine video of the Qingdao tunnel (right), with matching features marked by AFP:

Screenshot comparisons of the video in the misleading post (left) and a genuine video of the Qingdao tunnel (right)

The clip of a car tunnel with paintings of a mountainous landscape, blue sky and white clouds shows the Laoying Tunnel, part of the Baoshan-Lushui highway, in China's Yunnan province.

It corresponds with a video of the tunnel published in a June 2021 report by Chinese state-run media Yunnan Gateway (archived links here and here).

Below is a screenshot comparison between the misleading video (left) and the Yunnan Gateway video (right):

Screenshot comparison between the misleading video (left) and the Yunnan Gateway video (right)

The clip of a train going underwater seems to be computer-generated. It has circulated on Chinese social media since at least February 2019 with sticker text that says: "A glimpse into the future of high-tech transportation" (archived link).

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