A rally organised by Jakarta police to promote national unity has instead raised questions about whether the Indonesian government is using public events to blunt dissent, with questions raised over the identities of some participants after one admitted in a television interview that he had been paid to attend while posing as a university student.

The controversy has fuelled criticism of what analysts describe as an intensifying effort to drown out opposing voices, while drawing attention to the role of state-backed influencers and celebrities promoting President Prabowo Subianto’s policy agenda.

On Wednesday, marking National Youth Pledge Day – commemorating a historic 1928 declaration of unity against Dutch colonial rule – thousands of university students and civil society activists staged street protests in Jakarta. Demonstrators voiced anger over the regional haze crisis, living costs and several of Prabowo’s multibillion-dollar flagship projects.

The following day, the Jakarta police held an event at the same site under the theme “Patriotic, Resilient and Empathetic Youth for Indonesia”, drawing military and police personnel, university students and celebrities.

The Thursday event quickly unravelled on live television. Broadcast footage from Kompas TV showed one attendee, Bayu Setiadi, wearing an official blazer from the Jakarta-based Dian Nusantara University, struggling to answer basic questions about his studies. At one point, Bayu even identified himself as a student at a different university.

“He couldn’t even remember what university he was supposed to be from,” one social media user commented.

Bayu later admitted publicly that he was not enrolled at the university and had been paid by a local community group to attend, adding that an organiser had provided the blazer.

The controversy prompted public curiosity about who recruited and paid the participants and supplied the university insignia. Social media users across Indonesia coined the portmanteau combining (university student) with (to rent or hire).

Jakarta Metropolitan Police spokesman Budi Hermanto said authorities were “investigating those suspected of posing as students”. He denied that the event was organised to counter the previous day’s student demonstration, saying the police respected the public’s right to express their views.

Police later issued an apology, acknowledging that the incident had sparked public concern and saying the feedback would be used to evaluate and improve their services.

While Bayu acknowledged receiving payment to take part, no evidence has emerged directly linking the government to the recruitment of people posing as students.

Political analysts, however, said the event itself formed part of a broader strategy by the government to shape public discourse.

“The event was clearly orchestrated to provide a counter-narrative to the students’ protest by flaunting ‘students’ who supported the government,” said Made Supriatma, a visiting fellow at Singapore’s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.

Made argued that such crowd-mobilisation events had become common practice for Prabowo’s administration and its supporters to neutralise criticism.

Ika Karlina Idris, a disinformation expert and co-director of the Monash Data & Democracy Research Hub, said the incident fits an established pattern.

“Similar events to counter dissenters’ narratives have taken place before, such as the last May Day protest and a previous demonstration against the Free Meals Programme,” she said.

In each instance, a government agency or affiliated group held follow-up events with contrasting, upbeat themes, Ika noted. “These follow-up events usually have a celebratory mood, to differentiate themselves from the ‘doom and gloom’ of a protest.”But not all observers believe the event was a coordinated state operation. Muradi, a professor of political and security studies at Padjadjaran University and former adviser to two national police chiefs, described the rally as a symbolic exercise that fell victim to poor operational oversight.

“It was merely symbolic and didn’t overtly express support for the government,” Muradi said. “It was perfectly within Jakarta Metropolitan Police Chief Dadang [Hartanto’s] capacity to ensure a smooth roll-out, but something obviously went awry.”Much of the public criticism has focused on celebrity entrepreneur Raffi Ahmad, Prabowo’s special envoy for youth and the creative economy, who attended the police rally.

Calls to boycott future events run by his media company, RANS Entertainment, gained momentum online amid reports that the company’s share price dipped nearly 5 per cent following the event.

Raffi posted an apology on social media for “hurting public sensibilities”, stressing he had attended strictly as an invited guest without insight into the event’s organisation.

Ika said public outrage centred on Raffi because of his official government post. “Celebrities … used to remain on the fringes of power. Now, they have blatantly become part of the government,” she said.

Prabowo has appointed several entertainers to official roles, including television personality Deddy Corbuzier as a special staff member at the Defence Ministry and actor Raline Shah at the Ministry of Communications and Digital Affairs.

Both Made and Ika drew a contrast between Prabowo’s approach to managing public dissent and that of his predecessor, Joko Widodo. While Widodo frequently favoured a “more suave and nuanced” approach, Prabowo’s more “confrontational” methods risked hardening opposition, Made said.

Ika added that information campaigns highlighting government accomplishments had intensified under Prabowo. “Influence operations take place on a daily basis to the point of saturation, almost as if to overwhelm dissent,” she said.

Authorities dismiss allegations of state-sponsored intimidation. Kurnia Ramadhana, a spokesperson for the Government Communication Agency, said the administration welcomed open dialogue.

“We respect the right of all citizens, including students, to express their views through peaceful demonstrations, and we remain open to criticism and public input,” Kurnia said.