Old photo of rice distribution by Indonesia's ruling party falsely linked to 2024 shortage

"Price of rice increases due to bulk buying to support the recent [election] campaign," reads part of the Indonesian-language caption to a photo shared on social media platform X here on February 22, 2024.

The photo, which has been reposted more than 980 times, shows a man in a red shirt standing next to hundreds of bags of rice that have been piled high in what appears to be a warehouse.

"This was done by all parties, including PDIP. It would be beneficial that these rice packages can be immediately distributed, regardless of the result of the elections," the caption continues, referring to the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle.

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Screenshot of the false post, captured on March 12, 2024

The post was shared by an account that has expressed support for presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto and his running mate, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, the eldest son of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo (archived link). 

The photo racked up more than 1,500 shares after it also appeared alongside similar claims elsewhere on X here, TikTok here, here and here, as well as on short video-sharing app SnackVideo here.

It circulated as votes were being counted for Indonesia's February 2024 elections, with preliminary results showing the ruling PDIP's presidential candidate Ganjar Pranowo trailing far behind Defence Minister Prabowo in the race.

Meanwhile, the practice of election candidates distributing free rice to supporters ahead of polls, combined with the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in early March has led to a surge in demand for rice amid a shortage of the staple grain in the Southeast Asian nation (archived link).

Critics have partly blamed the rice shortage on Jokowi, who was accused of interference by giving away rice during the election campaign to shore up support for Prabowo and Gibran (archived links here and here).

Economists and agriculture experts also attributed the shortage to delayed harvests caused by the naturally occurring El Nino weather phenomenon (archived link).

But the photo being shared online is unrelated to the 2024 elections.

Photo from 2022

A reverse image search on Google found the photo shared in the false posts was used in an article by Indonesian news outlet Detikcom on April 27, 2022 (archived link).

The article details the PDIP's distribution of rice to residents in need in Semarang, the capital of Indonesia's Central Java province.

The article also includes photos of then Semarang mayor and chairman of the regional PDIP office Hendrar Prihadi with the rice (archived link). The photos are credited to the PDIP's Semarang chapter. 

Below is a screenshot comparison of the image in the false post (left) and the photo published by Detik (right):

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Screenshot comparison of the image in the false post (left) and the genuine photo published by Detikcom (right)

An earlier Detikcom report from April 7, 2022 stated the PDIP would distribute rice to people in need across Indonesia ahead of Eid al-Fitr (archived link).

The same photo was published in a similar report by local news outlet Bankom Semarang News on April 27, 2022 (archived link). 

A different photo showing Hendrar and other PDIP members among the bags of rice can be seen in a report by Indonesian online media Kompas.com on April 27, 2022, which said more than 11,400 sacks of rice would be distributed to people in need (archived link). 

AFP has previously debunked other misinformation related to the 2024 Indonesia elections here.