Clip of Indonesian presidential candidate's speech doctored to add chant for opponent

The 15-second video was posted on Instagram on January 22, 2024, where it has been watched more than 3.7 million times.

It shows Indonesian Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto -- one of the candidates in the presidential election -- giving a speech at a podium in front of people holding up their mobile phones to record the politician and giving a two-finger salute.

Prabowo was assigned 02 as his candidate number, while one of his rivals, Anies Baswedan, was given 01 and another opponent, Ganjar Pranowo, 03 (archived link). 

"More people are switching to candidate 01," reads Indonesian-language text overlaid on the video. "Accept the [bribe] money from anyone, don't refuse them, but choose 01."

The crowd appears to be loudly chanting "Anies president! Anies president!"

The chanting drowns out Prabowo's voice, but Indonesian-language text on the clip says he is talking about how people underestimate him. "I understand that there are people who say I can only dance," it says.

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Screenshot of the false post, taken on February 12, 2024

Nearly 205 million voters were eligible to cast their ballots to choose the country's next president on February 14, 2024. 

The three-way race for the top job pitted Prabowo against Anies and Ganjar, two former governors. The winner will succeed President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo after he completes the maximum two terms ruling Southeast Asia's biggest economy.

Prabowo is the frontrunner in the contest, with polls projecting he will win a majority --with Anies and Ganjar trailing behind. 

A 72-year-old former general who served under former leader Suharto, Prabowo remains accused of human rights abuses and ties to the Suharto family. He was married to one of the dictator's daughters.

This is his third bid after losing two previous presidential runs to Jokowi in 2014 and 2019. But during the 2024 election campaign, he has been trying to project a different image, portraying himself as a cute, fun-loving grandpa. He shares images of his cats to his six million Instagram followers, while videos of him dancing have gone viral. 

The video has been viewed more than 31,600  times after it was shared on Snack Video here and here and on TikTok.

However, the claim is false; the false video was manipulated to add audio of a crowd chanting Anies' name. 

Manipulated video

A logo of Indonesian media outlet, Suara.com, can be seen at the top right corner of the false video.

A keyword search on Suara.com's official TikTok account found that the original video was posted on January 11, 2024, with the caption, "Prabowo Talks About Those Who Say He Can Only Dance" (archived link).

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Screenshot of the original video from Suara.com, taken on February 14, 2024

The part seen in the false video matches the 18-second to the 39-second mark of Suara.com video.

However, in the original video from Suara.com, there was no roaring crowd chanting "Anies president!" and Prabowo's voice can be heard more clearly.

Prabowo made the speech during a campaign rally in Bengkulu, Suara.com reported (archived link). 

Another Indonesian media outlet, Kompas TV, uploaded his full 22-minute campaign speech in Bengkulu in a video taken from a different angle (archived link).

At the 9:16 mark, the Kompas TV footage shows Prabowo making the same remarks. No chanting of Anies' name can be heard in this clip either. 

AFP is unable to identify the exact source of the "Anies president" audio.  

AFP has debunked other misinformation related to Indonesia's 2024 elections, including another video of Prabowo that was doctored to add chanting for Anies.