Indonesia protest video misrepresented as Bangladesh unrest

Published on September 9, 2025 at 11:06
Updated on September 11, 2025 at 11:20
2 min read
By Rasheek MUJIB, AFP Bangladesh

As a top university in politically volatile Bangladesh geared up for a closely watched student election, posts shared a video they falsely claimed showed turmoil on campus. The footage in fact depicts a protest in Indonesia that turned violent following the killing of a delivery driver in August.

"Turbulent Dhaka University! The country is on the verge of civil war," reads part of the Bengali-language caption of a Facebook reel shared September 1, 2025.

The 24-second clip shows people running on a street where security forces can also be seen, while explosions ring in the background.

Screenshot of the false Facebook post taken September 8, 2025, with a red X added by AFP

The video surfaced elsewhere on Facebook as Dhaka University's Central Student's Union was set to hold elections on September 9, after a six-year hiatus.

Student politics has long shaped the South Asian nation's history, from the 1971 independence war to the revolution that toppled former prime minister Sheikh Hasina in August 2024 (archived link).

Dhaka University's student election has produced prominent political figures and many candidates currently campaigning played key roles in the recent uprising (archived link).

The university's vice chancellor Dr Niaz Ahmed Khan said the student polls will set an example for Bangladesh's planned February 2026 elections, as violent political rivalries deepened (archived here and here).

But a reverse search on Google using keyframes from the video surfaced an Instagram post on August 29, 2025 (archived link).

"The demonstration at the Mobile Brigade Headquarters is heating up, the crowds are going wild until the evening," reads part of the Indonesian-language caption.

Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared clip (left) and the Instagram video (right)

AFP reported at least 10 people have been killed since protests erupted in Indonesia late August, intensified by footage spreading of the killing of a young delivery driver by a paramilitary police unit (archived link).

A subsequent report by local channel TrijayaFM on August 29 also contains a similar video taken from a different angle (archived link).

Elements visible in the falsely shared video, including stop signs and roadside structures, correspond to Google Maps street imagery of the location in Indonesia's capital Jakarta (archived link).

Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared video (left) and Google Maps imagery of Brimob headquarters (right), with corresponding features highlighted by AFP

A red and white flag resembling the Indonesian flag is also visible in various parts of the video (archived link).

Screenshots of the video with the red and white flag highlighted by AFP

AFP has debunked other posts that falsely presented unrelated clips as having been filmed in Bangladesh here and here.

September 11, 2025Updated fifth paragraph to remove the word "fall"

September 11, 2025 Updated fifth paragraph to remove the word "fall"

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