Video shows Kenya protests, not mass runaways from Cambodia’s internet sweatshops
Cambodian authorities arrested thousands in raids on internet scam compounds in July, but a video showing people running along a highway does not show them fleeing scam centres. The clip was actually filmed during a demonstration in Kenya, where protesters held running battles with police.
“Mass escape from scam parks in Cambodia,” reads the simplified Chinese text over the clip shared on July 19 on Red Note.
The 45-second video showed a group of people running on a highway.
Screenshot of the false Red Note post captured on July 28, 2025, with a red X added by AFP
It surfaced after Cambodian authorities said 2,000 people were arrested in raids, including at least 226 Chinese nationals, after Prime Minister Hun Manet ordered law enforcement and the military to clamp down on scam centres in the country in July (archived link).
Workers at the centres typically use romance or business cons to defraud web users of an estimated $40 billion annually, but many say they were trafficked or lured there under false pretences.
The false claim also spread elsewhere on Bilibili.
Some users appear to believe the clip was filmed in Cambodia.
“They are all victims,” one user wrote.
Another commented, “The cyber-fraud is finally over.”
A reverse image search on Google showed a clip showing the same scene was uploaded on TikTok on June 26 with hashtags that read “maandamano” — or “protest” in Swahili — and the date June 25 (archived link).
Screenshot comparison of the false post (left) and the TikTok clip (right)
The clip was shared after protesters held rallies on the day to mark a year since massive anti-government demonstrations before they turned violent, with eight killed and at least 400 injured as protesters held running battles with police (archived link).
Google Street View imagery also showed the clip was filmed along Thika Road in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi (archived link).
Screenshot comparison of the Google Map Street View (left) and the TikTok video with matching features highlighted by AFP (right)
AFP has also previously fact-checked the same video.Â
Several Kenyan media outlets mentioned the thoroughfare as one of the protest sites in their reporting, including Citizen TV Kenya (archived here).
The Daily Nation published photos where the four-lane highway can be seen several times (archived link).
AFP has debunked another false claim about scam centres in Cambodia here.