Indonesia’s North Sumatra and Aceh provinces have been embroiled in a dispute over the management of 4 islands, however a video circulating on-line doesn’t present former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono weighing in on the difficulty. The clip is an extract from a speech he gave in 2023 marking the nineteenth anniversary of the lethal Indian Ocean tsunami, and he didn’t point out the contested islands.
“SBY’s message could be very clear: straight, don’t disturb Aceh and return these 4 islands to their unique proprietor,” reads an Indonesian-language submit on X shared on June 15, 2025.
The submit features a video of Yudhoyono, often known as SBY, who performed a task in signing a peace pact with Free Aceh Motion separatists throughout his presidency in 2005, ending many years of violence within the province.
“The Indonesian leaders who’re finishing up the mandate, together with Mr Prabowo Subianto, from all of this, do what it is best to do to our beloved Indonesia, to our beloved Aceh,” he says within the clip.
“Peace in Aceh did not come abruptly. It took an extended up-and-down course of.”
Screenshot of the false video taken on June 26, with a crimson X added by AFP
The false submit refers to a decade-long dispute over 4 islands — Panjang, Lipan, Mangkir Gadang, and Mangkir Ketek — between North Sumatra and the neighbouring Aceh province.
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto introduced on June 17 that the islands will probably be put underneath Aceh’s management (archived hyperlink).
The false clip was additionally shared on TikTok, the place it has been watched over 300,000 occasions, and unfold on Fb.
However a Google reverse picture search utilizing keyframes discovered native broadcaster Kompas TV uploaded a video to YouTube displaying the identical scene titled “Full, SBY’s Speech within the nineteenth 12 months Commemoration of the Aceh Tsunami” on December 26, 2023 (archived hyperlink).
The clip used within the false submit was taken from the 10:12 to 11:21 mark.
Screenshot comparability of the false submit (left) and the clip uploaded by Kompas TV
SBY gave the speech at a commemorative occasion marking 19 years because the 2004 lethal tsunami that killed greater than 220,000 individuals in nations across the Indian Ocean.
“I wish to spotlight the deeper which means of why we commemorate it. Folks say that in an effort to transfer ahead, to heal is to recollect,” he mentioned, earlier than persevering with with the remarks within the false clip.
As of June 23, SBY has not spoken out publicly on the contested islands.
