While climbing Mount Dukono, a 1,273-meter-high volcano in Indonesia, content creator Jonathan LeBlanc could feel the earth shaking beneath his feet.
Looking down over the rim of the crater at the summit, their camera captures plumes of extremely hot gas and ash rising high into the air.
Suddenly, he covers his mouth and starts rapidly descending down the mountain.
"There is poisonous gas, so we have to run now," he says into the camera. While coming down, his feet are slipping and he is going down the mountain rapidly.
Volcanoes may be a great destination for content creators and social media enthusiasts, but officials say some thrill-seekers are ignoring warnings and breaking the rules, with deadly consequences.
"Volcanoes can be very attractive for video because it's something that a lot of people can't see," Le Blanc says over a video call.
He says, "It feels like you are in a movie, which is taking place in a dangerous place. I can understand why thrill-seekers like to go there."
Le Blanc is a travel blogger. His videos receive thousands of views online from remote and hard-to-access places around the world.
He had climbed Mount Dukono in April last year. A few months ago, an accident took place at this same place.
In May, three tourists died after hiking to the crater. This incident happened when climbing the mountain was banned a few weeks ago.
Local police said the group had ignored warnings. Police also said that "many (climbers) are foreign tourists who want to create social media content."
However, the step-sister of one of the dead tourists told local media that he had not gone on this trip just to take pictures for social media, but because he loved nature.
Le Blanc says he always follows local rules and never asks local guides to take them to areas they don't feel comfortable going to.
"We pay a lot of attention to safety and try to balance that with making an engaging video," he says.
But some people are ready to take even bigger risks.
According to the Indonesian Mountain Guide Association, 116 people have died in climbing areas from 2022 to August this year. Of these, 27 deaths occurred due to volcanic eruptions.
Due to limited infrastructure in remote areas, local rescue teams arriving to help in these emergencies also have to face extremely dangerous conditions.
Agam Rinjani knows all too well what happens when something goes wrong during a trip to the volcano.
In the year 2025, this Indonesian rescue worker caught the attention of people online after risking his life in an extremely difficult operation.
He was part of a team of 50 people involved in recovering the body of 26-year-old Brazilian tourist Juliana Marins.
Juliana had fallen into the crater of the 3,726 meter high volcano Mount Rinjani. He was praised online for his bravery, but he still remembers the dangers of that mission.
He says, "Thank God I'm still alive after the rescue operation. I was telling myself I don't want to do this again, it's scary. But then I got a call recently to rescue a person from a plane crash in Makassar and I went there. It's hard not to go there."
Rinjani says that some climbers keep making videos on their phones even during rescue. Among them was a person who had fallen 200 meters down the mountain.
"The first thing she did was find her phone so she could start recording. I said, 'No', and put the rescue harness on her," he says.
They are concerned that people traveling without adequate preparation pose a risk not only to themselves but also to emergency rescue workers.
He says, "When you do not pay attention to safety, it can cause trouble to you, your family, people around you, rescuers, their families and even the authorities. When an accident happens, it puts a huge burden on many people."
Siti Sumilah Rita Susilawati, head of Indonesia's Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation, also agrees with Rinjani's concerns.
She wants content creators to do more to promote responsible volcano tourism and safe ways to visit dangerous places, rather than seeking to restrict access to dangerous places that some people want to visit.
“We want influencers to help create awareness about how to enjoy the beauty of the mountains responsibly,” she says.
She says, "We have to be responsible not only for ourselves, but also for others who will be affected by our work. If you are really fond of seeing volcanoes, you should be aware of your responsibilities."
Dozens of spectacular active volcanoes on Indonesia's islands continue to attract sightseers.
The challenge for the authorities remains how to strike a balance between giving content creators access to these spaces to capture the right images and ensuring their security.
