From the Andes to the Himalayas, a brand new wave of protests is unfolding internationally, pushed by generational discontent towards governments and anger amongst younger individuals.
This week, Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina was pressured out of energy and in a foreign country after a navy mutiny, the end result of weeks of demonstrations led by younger protesters referring to themselves as “Gen Z Madagascar.”
The trend towards the political institution within the Indian Ocean island nation mirrors different latest protests internationally, in international locations like Nepal, the Philippines, Indonesia, Kenya, Peru and Morocco. These protests have been sparked by particular grievances however are pushed by long-simmering points like widening inequality, financial uncertainty, corruption, and nepotism of leaders.
However they’ve one factor in widespread: Principally leaderless, they’re made up primarily of younger individuals who model themselves as “Gen Z,” outlined as these born roughly between 1996 and 2010 — the primary technology to develop up completely within the web age.
“What connects these youth-led protests is a shared sense that conventional political programs aren’t aware of their technology’s issues, whether or not that’s corruption, local weather change, or financial inequality. Protest then turns into the logical outlet when institutional channels really feel blocked,” mentioned Sam Nadel, director of Social Change Lab, a U.Ok.-based nonprofit that researches protests and social actions.
Protesters take cues from one another
Although their particular calls for differ, most of those protests have been sparked by authorities overreach or neglect. Some have additionally confronted harsh remedy by safety forces and brutal repression.
In Morocco, a leaderless collective known as Gen Z 212 — named after Morocco’s dialing code — has taken to the streets to demand higher public providers and elevated spending on well being and schooling. In Peru, protests over a pension regulation exploded into broader calls for, together with motion to deal with rising insecurity and widespread corruption within the authorities. In Indonesia, lethal protests have erupted over lawmakers’ perks and the price of dwelling, forcing the president to interchange key financial and safety ministers.
Essentially the most widely known motion to be dubbed as a “Gen Z” protest was a lethal rebellion in Nepal that culminated with the resignation of the prime minister in September. Protesters drew inspiration from profitable anti-government actions elsewhere in South Asia — Sri Lanka in 2022 and Bangladesh in 2024 — which led to the ouster of incumbent regimes.
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In Madagascar in flip, protesters say they have been significantly impressed by the actions in Nepal and Sri Lanka.
The protests started towards common water and electrical energy cuts however shortly morphed into wider discontent, as demonstrators known as for the president and different ministers to step down. On Wednesday, Madagascar’s navy coup chief mentioned he’s “taking the place of president.”
Uniting behind a manga pirate flag
Throughout a number of international locations, a singular popular culture image has emerged: a black flag exhibiting a grinning cranium and crossbones sporting a straw hat. The flag comes from a cult Japanese manga and anime collection known as “One Piece,” which follows a crew of pirates as they tackle corrupt governments.
In Nepal, protesters hung the identical flag on the gates of the Singha Durbar, the seat of the Nepalese authorities, and on ministries, a lot of which have been torched in protests. It was additionally hoisted by crowds in Indonesia, the Philippines, Morocco and Madagascar.
An activists holds a poster as a flag bearing a picture of cranium with straw hat from the favored Japanese anime One Piece is displayed, throughout a rally denouncing violence allegedly dedicated by the police in days of protests towards lavish allowances given to the members of the parliament, in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025. (AP Picture/Dita Alangkara).
Final week within the Peruvian capital, Lima, 27-year-old electrician David Tafur stood with the identical flag in San Martín Sq., now the stage for weekly protests.
“We’re preventing the identical battle — towards corrupt officers who, in our case, are additionally killers,” he mentioned, recalling that President Dina Boluarte’s authorities held on to energy since December 2022 regardless of greater than 500 protests and the deaths of fifty civilians.
“In my case, it’s outrage over abuse of energy, corruption, the deaths,” Tafur mentioned, referring to the sharp rise in murders and extortion plaguing the South American nation since 2017, amid new legal guidelines which have weakened efforts to struggle crime.
Boluarte had been beneath investigation for months over numerous allegations together with bribery and involvement in a lethal crackdown on protesters in 2022. She was changed final week by interim President José Jerí.
Tafur mentioned that wasn’t sufficient.
“The president is an ally of Congress and has to go,” he mentioned.
Harnessing social media for mobilization and consciousness
Many vital protests up to now, like Occupy Wall Avenue in 2011, the Arab Spring between 2010 and 2012, and the 2014 Umbrella Revolution in Hong Kong, have been led by youthful individuals. Whereas additionally they used the web and social media for mass mobilization, the “Gen Z” protesters are taking it to a different stage.
“Digital platforms are highly effective instruments for data sharing and constructing connections, however the best actions usually mix digital mobilization with conventional in-person organizing, as we’ve seen in these latest protests,” mentioned Nadel from Social Change Lab.
Days earlier than the lethal protests started in Nepal, the federal government introduced a ban on most social media platforms for not complying with a registration deadline. Many younger Nepalese considered it as an try and silence them and started accessing social media websites by digital personal networks to evade detection.
Over the subsequent few days, they used TikTok, Instagram and X to highlight the lavish life of politicians’ youngsters, highlighting disparities between Nepal’s wealthy and poor, and announce deliberate rallies and venues. Later, a few of them additionally used the gaming chat platform Discord to recommend who to appoint as an interim chief for the nation.
“No matter motion occurs, whether or not towards corruption or injustice, it spreads by digital media. The identical occurred in Nepal. The adjustments that passed off after the Gen Z protests in Nepal unfold globally by digital platforms, influencing different international locations as nicely,” mentioned protester Yujan Rajbhandari.
He mentioned the protests in Nepal woke up not solely the youth but additionally different generations.
“We realized that we’re international residents and the digital area connects us all and performs a robust function internationally,” Rajbhandari mentioned.
Related Press journalists Franklin Briceño in Lima, Peru, and Niranjan Shrestha in Kathmandu, Nepal, contributed to this report.
