France’s protests began in September, when students and teachers demonstrated over poor school conditions, staffing shortages and university-admission issues. They expanded into nationwide rallies over rising living costs, public-service cuts, and inequality. On October 17, hundreds of thousands marched, but riots, looting, and arson followed. Authorities imposed curfews and protest bans.
In the above context, a video has gone viral on social media in which individuals are throwing rocks and sticks at police who are defending themselves with riot shields.
The video is shared with a caption claiming it captures the violent unrest sweeping across France in 2026.
A social media user shared the video with a caption that reads, “This is how French police handle protesters, while in India, you already know how the police often respond! It means governments in France fear public backlash, whereas in India, what is the situation? Common people don’t matter to the govt. The reason is best known to you!”
SouthCheck found that the claim is false. The viral video is from a 2025 protest in Indonesia.
On closely observing the video, we saw the word ‘POLISI’ written on the shields. It is the Indonesian translation of the word ‘Police’.
Further, on a Google reverse image search, we found that the screenshot of the viral video was shared by The Times of India on August 30, 2025.
The report associated with the screenshot suggests that in Indonesia’s protests escalated after 21-year-old ride-hailing driver Affan Kurniawan was killed by an armoured police vehicle near Jakarta’s parliament on Thursday. His death triggered outrage, with protesters marching on police headquarters, setting fire to a police post and vehicles, and facing tear gas. Demonstrations were already fueled by anger over lawmakers’ $3,000 monthly housing allowance, rising living costs, layoffs, and politicians’ lavish lifestyles. President Prabowo Subianto ordered a transparent investigation and pledged accountability.
Taking a hint, we searched with relevant keywords and found that the incident was also reported by BBC Indonesia on August 30, 2025. The report suggests that demonstrations heated up in Jakarta and other cities after an online Ojek driver named Affan Kurniawan was killed by being run over by a Brimob tactical vehicle.
We found that different images of the incident were shared by BBC Indonesia. In the background we can see the same building with a red roof. Also, yellow banners can be seen, all of which suggest that the images are of the same incident as the viral video.
We further found that the same incident was also reported by BBC Indonesia on September 1, 2025. According to the report, Indonesia’s anti-government protests began in Jakarta on August 25 over parliamentarians’ excessive allowances, amid a cost-of-living crisis and anger at political privilege. Violence escalated after police killed 21-year-old ride-hailing driver Affan Kurniawan. At least seven people died as protesters torched government buildings and looted politicians’ homes. President Prabowo Subianto apologised, curbed some perks, and ordered a crackdown, but demonstrators demand deeper reforms on inequality, corruption, and accountability.
Hence, we can ascertain that the viral claim is false.
