Indonesia clips misleadingly shared in posts about Philippine juvenile justice law

The first video of a student getting attacked by a group was viewed more than 100,000 times after it was shared on Facebook on August 15, 2025.

"They're becoming more arrogant because our laws don't hold children accountable. This is why they're getting bolder," reads part of its Visayan-language caption.

The second clip, shared August 9, racked up more than 360,000 views.

It shows CCTV footage of three kids on a motorcycle speeding away after one of them places a wooden bench in the middle of the road. Its caption says the prank injured another motorcycle rider. 

Text overlaid on the video reads: "These three are so reckless -- this could get them killed."

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Screenshots of the misleading Facebook posts captured on August 25, 2025. AFP has added the X marks and blurred the children's faces.

The clips circulated as Philippine legislators debated a proposal to lower the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 15 years to 10 for children who commit heinous crimes (archived link).

Proposed by Senator Robin Padilla, the measure seeks to amend the country's juvenile justice law where children 15 and below are exempt from criminal liability but may face civil penalties or intervention programmes (archived link).

Those above 15 but below 18 may be held criminally liable if proven to have acted with discernment.

The law has been the subject of widespread misinformation online, as critics argue it does not sufficiently penalise serious offences by minors.

But juvenile justice advocates maintain the current framework already holds children accountable in ways appropriate to their developmental stage and capacity for reform. 

The clips were shared in similar Facebook posts, triggering reactions from users who referenced the proposed amendment.

"Senator Padilla's proposal is absolutely on point. Minors should really be imprisoned, and then they should be whipped every Friday," said one user.

Another commented: "This is exactly why Robin is pushing for the law to allow children as young as 10 to be imprisoned."

However, the incidents depicted in the clips did not take place in the Philippines. 

Videos from Indonesia

A combination of reverse image and keyword searches on Google found that Indonesian news outlet Metro TV  reported on the first video on their verified YouTube channel on July 21, 2025 (archived link).

The Indonesian-language title reads: "Tragic! Bullying Occurs at SMP N 3 Doko Blitar - [BERANTAS]," referring to a public junior high school in Blitar Regency in Indonesia's East Java Province (archived link).

A review of the footage found someone can be heard shouting "don't smack him" in the Javanese language.

Local media outlets TV One and Kompas.com also reported on the incident.

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Screenshot comparison of video in the misleading post (left) and the same clip from a Metro TV report

The second video, showing a CCTV footage of teenage boys placing a bench in the middle of the road, was reported by CNN Indonesia on May 20, 2025 (archived link).

It said the incident, which later caused a motorcycle crash, occurred in the early hours of May 18, in Central Java's Jepara town.

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Screenshot comparison of misleadingly shared video (left) and clip from CNN Indonesia report

The video was credited to the Instagram account of the Criminal Investigation Unit of Jepara district police, which had uploaded the video when they caught the three minors a day after the incident (archived link).

The footage also matches Google Maps imagery of a road in front of a public senior high school in Jepara (archived link).

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Screenshot comparison of video in misleading posts (left) and its location on Google Maps, with similarities marked by AFP