This video shows a protest in the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan

This article is more than one year old.
Published on November 10, 2020 at 05:15
2 min read
By AFP Hong Kong

A video has been viewed tens of thousands of times on Weibo and Facebook alongside a claim that it shows clashes between police and protesters in Thailand. The claim is false; the footage in fact shows a protest at the legislative office of Indonesia’s West Kalimantan province in October 2020.

The one-minute and 14-second video was published on Weibo here on October 17, 2020. It has been viewed more than 89,000 times.

Screenshot captured on November 5, 2020, of the misleading Weibo post

The post’s simplified Chinese caption translates to English as: “Thailand, protesters threw stones and sundries to police officers, in full fury.”

The post circulated as Thailand experienced months of pro-democracy protests calling for reform to the monarchy, as reported by AFP here.

The video was also shared with a similar claim on Weibo here and here, and on Facebook here.

The claim is false.

A frame-by-frame analysis found that the uniforms and gear worn by the police in the video are labelled “POLISI”, the Indonesian word for police.

Below is a screenshot of the video showing the police markings:

Screenshot of the video showing the police markings

A further keyword search found that the footage shows a protest in Pontianak, the capital of the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan.

Indonesian regional news outlet Tribun Pontianak reported on the unrest and published a corresponding photo of the protest here on October 8, 2020.

Screenshot of article by Tribun Pontianak

The article’s Indonesian headline translates as: “Protest Against Omnibus Law in West Kalimantan Turns Chaotic, Dispersed Forcefully by Police.”

The photo’s caption reads: “Demonstrations against the Omnibus Law at the West Kalimantan Regional Legislative Office ended in chaos. Thursday, 8 October 2020.”

Below is a screenshot comparison of the footage shared in the misleading Weibo post (L) and the photo published by Tribun Pontianak (R):

Screenshot comparison of the footage shared in the misleading Weibo post (L) and the photo published by Tribun Pontianak (R)

The location of the regional legislative office of West Kalimantan province in Pontianak can be seen on Google Maps here.

Other Indonesian media, such as Suara.com and Kompas TV, also reported on the clash at the legislative office in Pontianak on October 8, 2020.

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