Social media is now filled with content that is increasingly difficult to distinguish between real and fake. One trend that is currently being widely discussed is the use of deepfake technology targeting public figures, including Indonesian presidents. This deepfake technology allows for the manipulation of images or videos to appear convincing, even though they have been digitally altered.
1. Prabowo Subianto Deepfake Case
Recently, a hoax circulated on TikTok, an image showing the 8th President of the Republic of Indonesia, Prabowo Subianto, eating at a food stall. The image, which has been viewed 33.8 thousand times, went viral after being linked to his campaign promise of a free lunch program through the video’s audio, and even trended with the search term “prabowo’s free lunch satire.” This post utilized a photo that appeared to depict Prabowo eating a large meal and the audio of him mentioning the campaign promise of free meals, making it appear convincing to many social media users.
However, upon further investigation, the image was found to be digitally manipulated. Based on analysis using Error Level Analysis (ELA) on the Fake Image Detector website, the image was identified as computer-generated.
The FactMeter team discovered that the original image of the portrait was actually taken from the Liputan6 website with the title “6 Portraits of Portions of Coolies, Netizens’ Style, Will Make You Shake Your Heads,” proving that the image of Prabowo at the food stall was simply an edited image spread to deceive the public.
The original image shows a man holding a large portion of food, which is part of an article titled “6 Portraits of Portions of Coolies, Netizens’ Style, Will Make You Shake Your Heads.” This image reflects the culture and trend of netizens posting photos of large portions of food, but has no connection whatsoever to political figures or campaign promises. However, in the deepfake image uploaded to the TikTok account @ajudan.sambo, the man’s face has been replaced with that of Prabowo Subianto, the 8th president of the Republic of Indonesia. This deepfake image appears to depict Prabowo eating a large portion at a food stall, reinforcing the narrative associated with Prabowo’s campaign promise of a free lunch program.
Therefore, it can be concluded that the image of Prabowo Subianto eating at a food stall that went viral on TikTok social media has been proven to be a hoax, because the image is the result of digital manipulation using deepfake technology.
2. Photo of Jokowi at a Public Event That Turned Out to Be a Deepfake
Another interesting case emerged on the Twitter app (formerly known as Twitter), uploaded by the account @tallyfication. A photo depicting a figure resembling the 6th and 7th President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, quickly went viral, garnering over 10,000 reposts and 1,000 comments. At first glance, there seems to be nothing unusual about the photo. However, upon closer inspection, the face of a man in a brown shirt in the background appears to be that of President Jokowi.
After further analysis by the FactMeter team, this photo was also proven to be manipulated. Using the same ELA method, differences in error rates across various parts of the photo indicated that it was not the original. The use of deepfake technology here successfully disguised another person as Jokowi, and while it appeared convincing to many, digital forensic analysis revealed otherwise.
Beware of Digital Hoaxes
With the advancement of AI and deepfake technology, people must now be more vigilant about content circulating on social media. Images and videos that appear genuine could actually be the result of manipulation designed to influence public opinion or spread misinformation.
Fortunately, the same technology can also be used to detect this manipulation. One way to do this is by using Fake Image Detector, a website that allows users to upload images and instantly receive analysis results to determine whether the image is genuine or edited. This is one easy way people can protect themselves from digital hoaxes.
References
- Ajudan Sambo [@ajudan.sambo]. (2024, February 2). #makan #prabowo #mukbang [Video]. TikTok. https://www.tiktok.com/@ajudan.sambo/video/7334678368614370565
- Hafidha, S. I. (2021, August 12). 6 Potret Makanan Porsi Kuli ala Warganet Ini Bikin Geleng Kepala. Liputan6. https://www.liputan6.com/hot/read/4630103/6-potret-makanan-porsi-kuli-ala-warganet-ini-bikin-geleng-kepala
- zaki is daydreaming [@tallyfication]. (2024, October 21). Day 1 jadi rakyat [Tweet]. Twitter. https://x.com/tallyfication/status/1848279606270529994/photo/1
