Indonesia politician did not ‘promise cash handout’ to celebrate poll win: campaign

Politicians in Indonesia are regularly targeted by online scammers who use edited videos to impersonate them and push spurious financial schemes. In the latest case, a candidate running for governor in local elections was depicted in a video apparently declaring victory and offering cash aid to citizens. A spokeswoman for Sherly Tjoanda’s campaign told AFP she did not endorse the video, which appears to have been generated from a photo taken six years ago.

“May it be helpful for you all,” read the superimposed Indonesian-language text on a TikTok video shared on December 3, which has since been deleted.

It appeared to show gubernatorial candidate Sherly Tjoanda saying she had been appointed governor of North Maluku province.

“Therefore, to express my gratitude on this account, I will share financial aid,” she appeared to say in Indonesian, as well as asking users to follow the account and share the video.

“This is official and I will take responsibility for my words.”

AFP has fact-checked a wave of scams in Indonesia sharing edited videos of politicians apparently promoting giveaways for cash and gifts.

Scam pages typically ask social media users to leave a comment, follow a page or share personal information in exchange for goods or services, with the aim of inflating follower numbers so the page can be sold on and renamed. The scammers may also mine people’s data, such as phone numbers and email addresses.

The clip made the rounds on TikTok as polls closed for regional elections across Indonesia and as votes were still being counted (archived link).

Preliminary vote counts showed Sherly was leading her race in North Maluku by a wide margin, though her victory was not officially confirmed until December 8 (archived here and here).

Sherly — who entered the election in place of her husband Benny Laos, who was killed in a boat fire in October — is scheduled to take office on February 7, 2025 (archived link).

Comments on the posts suggested TikTok users believed the video showed a genuine cash prize endorsed by the politician.

“Congratulations and good luck, Mrs Sherly, on your new role,” read one comment.

Another said: “Ma’am, help me (with) a house.”

But Nurlaela Syarif, a spokeswoman for Sherly’s campaign, said there was “no such thing” as the cash handout promoted in the video.

“It has been made up,” she told AFP on December 4.

The clip is similar to another video debunked by AFP which also appeared to show an Indonesian gubernatorial candidate declaring victory and offering financial aid.

The wording used by Sherly and the candidate in the other false video are nearly identical, and both clips contain inconsistencies that suggest they were created with artificial intelligence.

In the clip supposedly showing Sherly speaking, the individuals in the background remain completely motionless for the duration of the video.

Old photo

A reverse image search on Google led to a photo that appears to have been the template used to create the false clip, published alongside a short article on local media website Okezone on November 3, 2018 (archived link).

The article was titled: “The Wife of the Morotai Regent Who Helps the Economy of the Community Through Salted Fish”.

The photo’s caption says it was taken during Sherly’s visit to the Okezone editorial offices.

Below is a screenshot comparison between the clip used in the false post (left) and the Okezone photo (right):

At the time the article was published, Sherly was not running for office.

There is also no mention in the article of Sherly discussing financial aid or cash handouts in relation to any election.

AFP has debunked other misinformation using doctored videos of Indonesian politicians here and here.