This week, French intelligence accused Beijing of spreading disinformation to smear the reputation of Dassault Aviation’s Rafale fighter jets, including in Indonesia, where the government was set to buy 42 Rafale jets under a 2022 agreement. According to French authorities, the online rumours, combined with active lobbying by Chinese embassy officials were intended to sway countries, including Indonesia, towards purchasing Chinese-made jets instead.
Our monitoring of Indonesian social media environment, using a non-intrusive digital ethnography and thematic coding, reveals a parallel trend. During May and June, an overt campaign was underway to generate public pressure against the Rafale sales agreement. Notably, the apparent influence operation seized on the India-Pakistan aerial clash in May to advance a narrative touting the superiority of Chinese-made J-10 fighter jets. Pakistan is currently the only country outside China that operates the J-10. Indonesia is an attractive market for Beijing, considering President Prabowo Subianto’s increased defence procurement spending.
On 7 May, the Pakistan Air Force claimed it had shot down five Indian fighter jets amid escalating tensions. The claim was initially met with scepticism, especially after an official Pakistani government X account shared footage from the video game ARMA 3, presenting it as real. Nevertheless, the Indian government later confirmed it had lost an unspecified number of jets. While the video game imagery drew ridicule from Western social media users, the campaign assumed a very different form in Indonesia.
While this disinformation has gained traction on social media, so far it has not been effective in influencing the Prabowo government’s policy.
A viral TikTok video circulating in Indonesia featured Ayesha Farooq, a real female Pakistani fighter pilot who was falsely credited with flying a J-10 fighter that shot down India’s Rafale jets. The most widely shared version of the reel actually showed footage of a different Pakistani pilot, Marium Mukhtiar – who died in 2015 – but incorrectly identified her as Farooq. Other versions used AI-generated images of an idealised hijab-wearing woman in a fighter cockpit.
Some Indonesian media outlets amplified these videos without any attempt at verification. The imagery of a Muslim heroine resonated well with Indonesian audiences, with some TikTok users commenting that they named their newborn after the Pakistani pilot.
Our research traced the source of the disinformation to Chinese and Russian actors, although we cannot conclusively determine whether they were state-sponsored. The earliest Indonesian-language social media posts celebrating the Pakistani Air Force’s success were translated from Chinese content. For example, one video featured a Pakistani influencer speaking fluent Chinese, stating that the incident proved the J-10 outperformed overpriced Western-made jets and that it caused Dassault Aviation’s share price to plummet. A Chinese-Indonesian influencer who frequently shares content from Chinese state media re-circulated the video with Indonesian subtitles. Other videos depicted ordinary Pakistanis dancing in the streets and celebrating, expressing gratitude to the Chinese government for its superior technology.
Russia-linked sites were also involved in the apparent influence operation. On 17 May, a Russian site, Topwar.ru, published a report claiming that “Indonesia suspends purchase of French fighter jets” – a claim later labelled as a hoax by Indonesian authorities. Zona Jakarta, an Indonesian news site known for re-circulating Russian and Chinese media narratives was subsequently cited in the hashtag campaign #HentikanRafaleDeal (#StopRafaleDeal), which trended on X on 11 June. The hashtag mobilisation appeared coordinated. When using the inbuilt search function to find and collect posts associated with this hashtag, we found91 posts appearing over a two-day period with very low engagement, suggesting inauthentic amplification. One-third of these posts shared an article from Zona Jakarta that highlighted corruption as a significant factor in India’s purchase of the French Rafale jets.
While this disinformation has gained traction on social media, so far it has not been effective in influencing the Prabowo government’s policy. The leaked information that the Chinese Embassy was persuading Indonesian officials to buy second-hand J-10 units at a bargain price has backfired, sparking online ridicule. While the talks with China remain in limbo, Türkiye announced last month that Indonesia ordered 48 units of its KAAN fighter jets.
The innate anti-Western sentiment among some Indonesians makes the country fertile ground for foreign-backed anti-Western disinformation campaigns. Indonesia has been procuring military equipment from various countries, raising concerns about interoperability. At the same time, the government sees value in reducing reliance on any single supplier, especially those from the West. This case underscores how Indonesia’s defence sector remains exposed to foreign influence operations, particularly those that exploit anti-Western sentiment.
