Gen Z protests: Digital platforms fuel change from Asia to Africa

ISLAMABAD: Youth-led protests are reshaping political activism across Asia and Africa in 2025, with digital media emerging as a powerful tool for demanding systemic change.

The "Gen Z Protests" began in Bangladesh in July 2024, led by young Bengali students demanding the removal of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. In 2025, similar youth-led protests spread from Timor-Leste and the Philippines to Nepal, Morocco, and Madagascar, driven by issues like corruption, economic inequality, infrastructure failures, and mass censorship.

Madagascar targets elite control
In Madagascar, protests erupted in September 2025 over prolonged water and power outages, widespread poverty, and government corruption. Protestors also condemned political elites.

The World Bank reported that Madagascar's income per capita has fallen by 45% since 1960, with a "small, unaccountable elite" maintaining tight control over the economy, according to Reuters. Protesters have highlighted this inequality, using digital platforms to expose systemic issues.

According to Reuters, the demonstrations have been "the largest the Indian Ocean island has seen in years," with protesters demanding the president's resignation and the dissolution of key government institutions.

Social media fuels coordination
The digital strategy driving these protests is remarkably sophisticated. Inspired by youth-led movements in Kenya and Nepal, Madagascar's Gen Z activists have used social media to coordinate nationwide demonstrations. "This is not a retreat but a strategy: we will come back together more united, stronger," the protest movement's leadership declared in a Facebook post, as reported by Reuters on Thursday.

The protests have spread beyond the capital, with protestors in far-off cities also chanting "Rajoelina Out" and carrying banners denouncing the government. Despite the country’s president dissolving the government on Monday, AP reported that public anger continues to simmer.

Nepal’s activism blueprint
Nepal's recent protests offer a blueprint for digital activism. When the government banned 26 social media platforms on September 4, 2025, activists shifted to alternative channels like Discord and used VPNs to bypass restrictions.

The widespread youth-led protests escalated, leading to violent clashes and the eventual resignation of Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli. The movement showed how digital tools can directly challenge political power.

Digital power driving change
These movements reveal a fundamental shift in political engagement. Digital platforms have transformed from communication tools to instruments of political change, allowing young people to organize, broadcast their messages, and challenge existing power structures with unprecedented speed and coordination.