AI image falsely depicts Jokowi holding university diploma
Artificial Intelligence Image Falsely Depicts Jokowi Holding University Diploma
An artificial intelligence-generated image circulating on social media falsely depicts Indonesia’s seventh president, popularly known as Jokowi, holding up a university diploma. The digital fabrication emerges as the former leader faces a lawsuit alleging he used a fake diploma when he registered for his presidential runs in 2014 and 2019, claims that he denies.
The synthetic graphic, which features text claiming Jokowi is finally showing his original degree from Gadjah Mada University, spread across Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok around September 29, 2026. However, a reverse image search traces the visual’s origin to a genuine video published September 27, 2026, on the official Instagram account of the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI), a political organization led by one of his children.
Investigation and Digital Detection of the Fabricated Visual
While the background in the circulating image differs from the source footage, several elements align with the PSI event, including Jokowi’s party badge, his headdress, a microphone, and an Indonesian flag positioned to his right. In the original recording, Jokowi stands before party members at a September 26 regional coordination meeting in Bandung to show his PSI membership card rather than any academic credentials.
“Many people do not believe [that I’m a PSI member], so I will just show my membership card now,” Jokowi states in the video, reading aloud his name and membership number printed on the card. He also notes in the footage that he has been a PSI member since 2025.
To confirm the digital manipulation, AFP ran the circulating image through Google’s SynthID Detector. The tool identified digital watermarks embedded within the file, confirming it was generated using the company’s artificial intelligence tools. Gadjah Mada University previously said Jokowi’s diploma is authentic, publishing official photographs of his graduation and undergraduate thesis. Representatives for the Indonesian Solidarity Party did not respond to AFP requests for comment prior to publication.