Video from Indonesia falsely linked to Nepal protests

Published on September 11, 2025 at 12:53
3 min read
By Sachin BAGHEL, AFP India

After deadly demonstrations ousted Nepal's veteran prime minister and set parliament ablaze, social media users shared a video falsely claiming it depicts the protesters having a showdown with the military. But the clip shows the police from the province of North Sumatra in Indonesia, where discontent over economic hardships escalated into fatal unrest in August.

"During the protests in Nepal, the army had to defend itself in this way, but the protesters kept attacking," reads the Hindi-language X post shared on September 10, 2025.

The post includes a video that shows people throwing stones at uniformed personnel positioned behind shields.

Overlaid text on the clip translates to "Nepal’s situation is deteriorating".

Demonstrations began on September 8 in Nepal's capital of Kathmandu against the government's ban on social media and over corruption, driven by angry young protesters who dubbed themselves the "Gen Z" movement (archived link).

Screenshot of the false X post captured on September 10, 2025, with a red X added by AFP

After at least 19 people were killed in a deadly police crackdown, the rallies escalated into an outpouring of rage nationwide, with protesters setting parliament ablaze and forcing Nepal's veteran prime minister to step down.

But the army took back control of Kathmandu on September 10, enforcing a curfew and starting talks with protest leaders.

The video also spread alongside similar claims on X and Facebook.

Indonesian protest

A Google reverse image search using keyframes found a longer video published by the Indonesian media Tribun Medan on August 29, 2025 (archived link).

"Protesters attack and throw stones at police," says its Indonesian-language caption.

Screenshot comparison of the false post (L) and YouTube video from Tribune Medan

Protests in Indonesia began in late August over public anger at lavish perks for MPs, but turned violent against the nation's elite paramilitary police unit after footage showed one of its teams running over 21-year-old delivery driver Affan Kurniawan (archived link).

Demonstrations then spread from Jakarta to other major cities, including Yogyakarta, Bandung, Semarang and Surabaya in Java, and Medan in North Sumatra province.

The news outlet said the incident occurred in front of the North Sumatra parliament office during a heated protest.

Identifying features of the area seen on Google Maps' Street View imagery -- like the official crest on the fence and the distinctive building in the background -- also matched the scene in the falsely circulated video (archived link).

Screenshot comparison of the false post (left) and Google Maps Street View imagery of the area

The word "Polisi", which means "police" in Indonesian language, can also be seen on the shield.

Screenshot of the X video, with the word "Polisi" highlighted by AFP

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

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