Video of Indonesia's Anies Baswedan on 'online games passion' after losing presidential race is doctored

Published on June 21, 2024 at 11:24
2 min read
By AFP Indonesia

A video of Indonesian politician Anies Baswedan giving a speech was edited to make it look like he announced he had become a gamer after failing to secure the top job in February's presidential election. The original video in fact shows Anies delivering an address to an event in November 2022, in which he did not mention gaming.

"Following my defeat in the last presidential election, I have decided to become a gamer," Anies appears to say in Indonesian in the edited video.

"So I would like to introduce a game I play, Honor of Kings."

The video, which racked up more than five million views on TikTok, spread after the former Jakarta governer's unsuccessful bid for the Indonesian presidency.

Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto was formally declared winner of the February polls after Indonesia's constitutional court shot down challenges to his first-round majority victory from Anies and fellow presidential contender Ganjar Pranowo.

Anies has since vowed to reclaim his role as Jakarta governor in local elections set for November.

Screenshot of the misinformation post, captured on June 19, 2024 (Satya Adhi)

Some TikTok users appeared to believe the video was genuine.

"So cool Mr. Anies, I am waiting for your gaming debut," one commented.

"It become an afterlife reward for Mr. Anies," another wrote.

The video garnered tens of thousands of views in similiar posts on Facebook, TikTok, YouTube and X, formerly Twitter.

2022 speech

A reverse image search of the video and keyword searches found the original video posted on YouTube in 2022 (archived link).

The clip shows Anies giving a speech at the 11th anniversary of his NasDem party, according to the caption of the video posted by Indonesian media outlet Medcom on November 11, 2022.

The footage shows Anies speaking about his partnership with the party ahead of the presidential election. He makes no reference to gaming.

"If you want a comfortable and relaxed journey, choose a flat path," he says in Indonesian.

"But those paths won't take you to any peaks. If we choose an upward path, even though it's dark, we have to climb up."

Below is the comparison between the manipulated video (left) and the original video (right):

Comparison between the manipulated video (left) and the original video (right)

Anies' speech at the event was widely reported by Indonesian media (archived link).

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