Gen-Z protests spread on a global scale. What motivates this movement led by young people?

For a while, people called 2019 “The year of the demonstration”, while civil disorders flooded the streets of Hong Kong to Egypt. Before that, it was in 2011, marked by Occupy Wall Street and the Pro-Democracies Raisses of the Arab Spring in the Middle East.

But now, with what is called Gen-Z demonstrations spreading around the world, some experts say that 2025 could steal this title.

“I think it could be a new emergence of protest culture, and I think it will be global,” said Shana Macdonald, O’Donovan president in communication at the University of Waterloo who does research on social and digital media.

During the last month, a wave of demonstrations led by young people reached the street in Nepal, Morocco and Madagascar, all mobilizing online support and motivated by frustration against corruption or the incompetence of the government.

Specific requests differ. The young people in Morocco are gathering for social justice reforms and the state of public services while the North African country invests billions of dollars to accommodate the FIFA 2030 World Cup.

In Madagascar, demonstrators on the Indian Ocean island denounce the failure of electricity and water supply.

In Nepal, anger concerns the allegations of corruption and nepotism of several decades, caused by a recent ban on the social media implemented by the government which was quickly reversed. Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli resigned in the midst of the expansion of criticism from the country’s political elite.

These are some of the best known demonstrations, but other similar events led by young people recently emerged in other countries, including the Philippines, Indonesia, Serbia, Kenya, Paraguay and Peru.

The common thread of each of them is the frustration of bad governance, the lack of opportunities and creeping inequalities, explained Michelle Chen, deputy professor in communication at Brock University in St. Cataherines, Ontario, who studies the impact of social media technologies on social movements.

“In many regions of the world, generation Z as a cohort suffers,” CHEN told CBC News.

“They arrive at maturity and obtain their diploma in a world with political instability, increased polarization, an enlargement of wealth inequalities and a lower labor market. The future may seem dark and desperate.”

Look | The demonstrations of young people in Morocco become deadly:

The antigenmental demonstrations of young people in Morocco become fatal

Two people were killed and others injured when security forces in Morocco opened fire on demonstrators who were trying to steal their weapons, local authorities said. The demonstrations, which started on Saturday with requests for better education and health care, were organized online by a group of young people formed vaguely called Genz 212.

“Unify and connect disparate voices”

Generation Z, defined as those born almost between 1996 and 2010, is the first generation to grow entirely in the Internet era. Now, as experts have pointed out, they use these digital tools to join their causes.

Friday, the president of Madagascar, Andry Rajoelina, said that he was ready to find solutions to the problems with which the island nation is confronted, but ignored the calls for his resignation by the protest movement led by young people on a national level. He dissolved the government late Monday in an attempt to repress the audience of the public.

The demonstrations began on social networks under the banner “Gen Z Madagascar”, according to the news agency France 24.

On Thursday, Moroccan Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch said that he was open to dialogue to end the demonstrations for young people in his country while the security forces were preparing for a sixth night of demonstrations that have turned into riots across the country.

The events initially started with demands for better education and health care. They were organized by a group of young anonymous formed and trained called “Genz 212” using online platforms such as Tiktok, Instagram and the discord of the game application.

The fact that these movements propagate so quickly to other countries show that the public display of demonstrations via social media, in particular large crowds, can be extremely powerful, said Chen.

“Social media has a way to unify and connect voices and disparate experiences, which is important for the construction of movements,” said Chen.

This is not the first time that the Internet has been used to create protest cultures, Macdonald said, pointing to other hashtag movements such as Occupy Wall Street, Idle No More and Black Lives Matter. But while these protests may look like a recent memory for many observers, for a young generation Z, they are historic.

“This is their first time using their most intimately recognizable communication mode to share their policy, but also to decide how to demonstrate and how to come together,” said Macdonald.

Just the start?

Although the name “Gen Z protest” may suggest that the movements led by young people are new, this is not the case, said Chen. Many important events such as Tiananmen Square, Occupy Wall Street, Arab Spring and the Ungo Kong Upaps have been led by young people, she said.

But digital technologies have made it faster and easier to mobilize today, she said.

“This can give the impression that generation Z protests at a higher rate than other generations.”

It also allows people to see their experiences of inequality or injustice as a collective, said Chen. And as more young people consume this content, they can start to consider protest as an appropriate strategy to express their frustration towards their local government.

Macdonald said that when we look back, she thinks we could call 2025 “the year of the demonstration” because it is possible that we now see with the manifestations of Gen Z is only the beginning.

“You will see him in the United States, immediately, I would say.”

“I think these protests are reflected in their approach. And they have models. They have the Arab Spring.”