Posts mislabel video of protests in Makassar

"Kalimalang, Bekasi heats up," reads an Indonesian-language caption to a video uploaded on Facebook  on August 31, 2025, which shows crowds watching as people run through a street with several fires burning along it.

Kalimalang refers to a stretch of highway that runs through Bekasi.

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Screenshot of false post, taken on September 9, 2025, with a red X added by AFP

The post surfaced after demonstrations in Indonesia's capital Jakarta in late-August against financial perks for lawmakers turned violent when a paramilitary police force vehicle ran over and killed 21-year-old delivery driver Affan Kurniawan, stoking public anger (archived link).

The protests, the worst since President Prabowo Subianto took power less than a year ago, spread across Indonesian cities, leaving 10 dead and thousands arrested. Hundreds of people still remain in detention, police said (archived link).

The video was also shared in posts on TikTok and SnackVideo that said it depicted protests in Bekasi, which saw protests on August 31 (archived link).

However, the video was shot in Makassar in South Sulawesi, where protesters torched the local parliament building -- the resulting blaze left three people dead (archived link).

A reverse image search on Google found the same video shared on YouTube on August 31 (archived link). 

"Makassar is on the move," reads overlaid text on the video.

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

AFP geolocated the video to an area in front of the Paramount Maternity and Children's Hospital in Makassar (archived link). Visual elements in the footage -- such as signage for KFC and Chatime outlets located in the adjacent building -- matched Google Maps Street View imagery. 

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Screenshot comparison of the video in the false post (left) and Google Street View imagery (right)

AFP has also debunked other misinformation surrounding the Indonesian demonstrations here.