Old videos of Indonesian VP misrepresented as recent meeting with protesters

Published on September 5, 2025 at 10:58
3 min read
By AFP Indonesia

Indonesian Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka met representatives of the ride-hailing drivers' community in August after the killing of a deliveryman reignited anti-government demonstrations, but videos shared on social media do not show him engaging the protesters. The clips are old and unrelated to the nationwide rallies that rocked Southeast Asia's largest economy.

"While the House of Representatives didn't dare to come down, Vice President Gibran personally met with the protesters. Impressive. My vice president is on fire," reads Indonesian-language text overlaid on a TikTok post shared on September 1, 2025.

The video shows the eldest son of former Indonesian president Joko Widodo approaching and greeting several people under tight guard by police and military personnel.

"This is the moment when Vice President Gibran meets the protesters," reads the video's caption.

Screenshot of the false post taken on September 5, 2025 with a red X mark from AFP

Gibran met several representatives of the drivers' community on August 31 at the presidential palace, where they spoke about the importance of sentencing the police officer who ran over delivery driver Affan Kurniawan properly (archived link).

An Indonesian police commission fired officer Cosmas K. Gae after finding him guilty of an ethics breach over his role in the killing of Affan, whose death stoked anger among workers (archived link).

Similar videos also circulated alongside the same claim, showing Gibran meeting protesters as well as attending gatherings at night.

Screenshot of other false posts with similar claims, taken on September 5, 2025, with a red X added by AFP

The clips also spread on TikTok and Facebook, where they have been viewed millions of times.

Unrelated videos

A reverse image search found Indonesian media outlet TribunPapua uploaded the first video on its YouTube channel on May 28, 2025 (archived link).

"Gibran confronted by students when visited Bengkulu," its overlaid text says.

The video shows Gibran meeting students in Bengkulu when the western province faced a fuel shortage.

A keyword search also found the office of the vice president uploaded a clip showing a similar scene on its official YouTube channel (archived link).

Screenshot comparison of the false post (left) and the video on the Indonesian vice president's YouTube channel (right)

A reverse image search on Google found local Indonesian media Solo Times published the second video on its YouTube channel on February 6, 2024, titled "Gibran Meets Hundreds of Protesters in Front of Solo City Hall! Shouts of 'Samsul' Heard!!" (archived link)

In the video, Gibran is seen meeting with students staging a demonstration, as he was running for vice president in the 2024 elections.

Screenshot comparison of false post (left) and YouTube video (right)

A keyword search found footage similar to the third video uploaded on the vice president's official YouTube channel on June 6, 2025 (archived link).

"VP Gibran Watches Indonesia vs. China World Cup Qualifier at Solo City Hall," its title says.

The video shows Gibran attending a public viewing of the match.

Screenshot comparison of the false post (left) and the YouTube video (right)

AFP has previously debunked misinformation related to the Jakarta protests here.

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