Bogus report on Indonesia laptop graft probe spreads online

Published on August 7, 2025 at 10:28
3 min read
By AFP Indonesia

Indonesian prosecutors have barred former education minister Nadiem Makarim from leaving the country as part of a corruption probe over the procurement of school laptops during his tenure. But baseless online posts claiming he admitted handing the money over to ex-president Joko "Jokowi" Widodo feature a fabricated news report.

"Wow Amazing Nadiem Makarim. Why did he deliver it to Jokowi's house?" reads an Indonesian-language TikTok post on July 19, 2025.

It shares a screenshot of a supposed CNBC Indonesia report dated July 16 with a headline that reads: "Nadiem Makarim [says] I handed over the 450 trillion-rupiah laptop procurement money to Mr. Jokowi at his house in Solo."

"If you don't believe me, ask Gibran and Kaesang. They were there when I gave the money," it goes on to say, referring to Jokowi's sons Kaesang Pangarep and the country's Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka.

Screenshot of the false post taken July 28, 2025, with the red X added by AFP

The image also surfaced on Facebook and Instagram after the Indonesian Attorney General's Office (AGO) announced mid-June it was barring Nadiem from leaving the country for six months (archived link).

The agency said it has brought him for questioning as part of a probe into a 9.3 trillion rupiah (US$573 million) procurement project of student laptops from 2020 to 2022 when Nadiem was education minister under Jokowi (archived link).

According to AGO, the laptops did not meet the program's goals as teachers and students found them difficult to use.

Four suspects -- including three former education ministry officials and a consultant -- have been named in the investigation (archived link).

A keyword search of the name of the reporter shown in the circulating image -- Novina Putri Bestari -- found three news reports related to the case on July 16 (archived here, here and here).

None contained any mention of Nadiem saying he handed over money to Jokowi. The font and timestamp format shown in the image are also different from genuine CNBC articles.

Screenshot comparison of the fabricated report (L) and a genuine article from CNBC Indonesia

Moreover, a reverse image search found Nadiem's picture was taken from a CNBC Indonesia report published on June 24, 2025 (archived link).

It was about him giving a brief statement after he was questioned for 12 hours at the AGO's headquarters the previous day.

The report also does not mention Nadiem making the remarks in the false posts.

AFP has previously debunked another false claim involving the former minister following a corruption investigation here.

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