giant labubu and iron man statues looted from politician's home during indonesia's protests

Protesters marched to Bali’s regional police headquarters and riot police fired rounds of tear gas at them to push back those who tried to reach the heavily guarded compound.

Clashes between riot police and protesters erupted in multiple cities across Indonesia on Friday,including in Medan,Solo,Yogyakarta,Magelang,Malang,Bengkulu,Pekanbaru and Manokwari in easternmost Papua region.

TikTok suspends live video feeds

In the light of the protests,the app,which is owned by China’s ByteDance,confirmed that it had suspended its live feature in Indonesia for several days.People clash with riot control members of the Mobile Brigade Corps,or ‘Brimob’,in the midst of a tear gas cloud (Picture: AFP)The government had this week summoned representatives of social media platforms,including Meta Platforms Inc and TikTok,and told them to boost content moderation alleging that disinformation had spread online.The government says that this has spurred the demonstrations against it – not the issues with the economy or the killing the the taxi driver.

What has Indonesia’s president done so far?

The protests are the first major test to president Prabowo Subianto nearly year-old government.A woman strikes a police officer with a bamboo stick as police push back students during a protest outside the parliament building (Picture: AFP)As the demonstrations spread outside Jakarta,he cancelled a planned trip to China.The president had been due to attend a ‘Victory Day’ on Wednesday for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II following Japan’s surrender.Presidential spokesperson Prasetyo Hadi said in a video statement: ‘The president wants to continue monitoring the protests directly…and seek the best solutions.‘Therefore,the president apologizes to the Chinese government that he could not attend the invitation.’

Is it safe to travel to Indonesia right now?

Read our latest travel advice for #Indonesia about information on protests across the country,with a small number becoming violent: https://t.co/DpYGQSnGmv pic.twitter.com/PwCjauOMX7— FCDO Travel Advice (@FCDOtravelGovUK) August 29,2025The UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to parts of Indonesia – but most are area where there is volcanic activity,rather than connected to the protests.Foreign embassies in Jakarta,including the US and Australia,have advised their citizens in Indonesia to avoid demonstration areas or large public gatherings.