Video shows Kenya protests, not mass runaways from Cambodia's internet sweatshops

Published on July 28, 2025 at 08:30
Updated on July 28, 2025 at 10:58
3 min read
By Anne CHAN, AFP Hong Kong

Cambodian authorities arrested thousands in raids on internet scam compounds in July, but a video showing people running along a highway does not show workers fleeing scam centres. The clip was actually filmed during a demonstration in Kenya, where protesters held running battles with police.

"Mass escape from scam parks in Cambodia," reads the simplified Chinese text over the clip shared on July 19 on Red Note.

The 45-second video showed a group of people running on a highway.

Screenshot of the false Red Note post captured on July 28, 2025, with a red X added by AFP

It surfaced after Cambodian authorities said 2,000 people were arrested in raids, including at least 226 Chinese nationals, after Prime Minister Hun Manet ordered law enforcement and the military to clamp down on scam centres in the country in July (archived link).

Workers at the centres typically use romance or business cons to defraud web users of an estimated $40 billion annually, but many say they were trafficked or lured there under false pretences.

The false claim also spread elsewhere on Bilibili.

Some users appear to believe the clip was filmed in Cambodia.

"They are all victims," one user wrote.

Another commented, "The cyber-fraud is finally over."

A reverse image search on Google showed a clip showing the same scene was uploaded on TikTok on June 26 with hashtags that read "maandamano" -- or "protest" in Swahili -- and the date June 25 (archived link).

Screenshot comparison of the false post (left) and the TikTok clip (right)

The clip was posted the day after a protest to mark the one-year anniversary of massive anti-government demonstrations against tax rises (archived link). The marches turned violent, however, with at least eight people killed and 400 others injured.

Google Street View imagery also showed the clip was filmed along Thika Road in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi (archived link).

Screenshot comparison of the Google Map Street View (left) and the TikTok video with matching features highlighted by AFP (right)

AFP has also debunked a similar video from the Kenyan protest shared with another false claim.

Several Kenyan media outlets mentioned the thoroughfare as one of the protest sites in their reporting, including Citizen TV Kenya (archived here).

The Daily Nation published photos where the four-lane highway can be seen several times (archived link).

AFP has debunked another false claim about scam centres in Cambodia here.

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