AI-altered video falsely depicts Indonesian House speaker as seeking tax hike
- Published on July 14, 2026 at 10:36
- 2 min read
- By AFP Indonesia
Amid flagging investor confidence in Indonesia's economy, posts circulated a manipulated video with a false claim it showed Indonesian House Speaker Puan Maharani urging the government to increase taxes to trim foreign debt. The original footage shows Puan tackling energy and food security issues at the 2022 parliamentary session, while a detection tool has flagged that the audio was made with Google's AI tools.
"The House of Representatives does not represent the people, but the elite and oligarchs -- a council of loan sharks," reads part of the Indonesian-language text overlaid on a TikTok video posted on June 14, 2026.
The video shows images of Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa, political leader Megawati Sukarnoputri -- who is also Puan Maharani's mother -- and Puan herself.
She appears to say in Indonesian from a podium while wearing a pink kebaya adorned with several official emblems: "We must increase taxes on the people to reduce our debt to foreign creditors."
The video circulated as public concern over Indonesia's economic conditions grows, with the rupiah hitting successive record lows and foreign debt increasing to $434 billion in the first quarter of 2026 (archived here and here).
It was hit hard by the global surge in crude prices fuelled by the Middle East war. Authorities have also spooked investors with tighter export controls, while a move by parliament to tighten oversight of the central bank raised fears for its independence.
The video also circulated alongside similar claims on Facebook and TikTok, but the original footage is old and was manipulated using artificial intelligence.
A reverse image search on Google found a longer version of the video published on the official YouTube channel of Indonesia's parliament on August 16, 2022 (archived link).
"The 2022 Annual Session of the People's Consultative Assembly on August 16, 2022, will serve as a moment for the Assembly to deliver a message to the nation. The Annual Session is a constitutional convention during which the President of Indonesia presents reports on the performance of state institutions," the video's description states.
Puan delivered a speech on the day covering a wide range of national issues, but at no point during her speech did she say that the government should increase taxes to pay off the country's foreign debt.
The video also contains visual inconsistencies that are hallmarks of AI-generated content, including Puan's fingers appearing blurred and overlapping.
Google's SynthID detector, a tool designed to identify AI-generated content, has flagged that a section of the audio was made using the tech giant's AI tools.
When asked about the circulating video, an assistant to Puan directed AFP on July 14 to an Indonesian government web page that dismisses the claim as a "hoax" (archived link).
AFP has previously debunked misinformation about Indonesia's economy.
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