Maham Khan

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 &quot;Gen Z Protests&quot; 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&#39;s income per capita has fallen by 45% since 1960, with a &quot;small, unaccountable elite&quot; 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 &quot;the largest the Indian Ocean island has seen in years,&quot; with protesters demanding the president&#39;s resignation and the dissolution of key government institutions. <figure class="fr-media"><img src="https://paktv-assets-7d41fab8.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/uploads/83df9db8-ae2c-41ce-8eb3-626969019c3d-Madagascar police react to protesters demonstrating against chronic electricity and water cuts in Antananarivo, Madagascar, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. (AP).jpg" alt="Madagascar police react to protesters demonstrating against chronic electricity and water cuts in Antananarivo, Madagascar, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. (AP)" class="fr-fil fr-dib"><figcaption class="caption-cover-image text-sm text-gray-600 italic" style="line-height: 2;">Madagascar police react to protesters demonstrating against chronic electricity and water cuts in Antananarivo, Madagascar, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. (AP)</figcaption></figure>Social media fuels coordination The digital strategy driving these protests is remarkably sophisticated. Inspired by youth-led movements in Kenya and Nepal, Madagascar&#39;s Gen Z activists have used social media to coordinate nationwide demonstrations. &quot;This is not a retreat but a strategy: we will come back together more united, stronger,&quot; the protest movement&#39;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 &quot;Rajoelina Out&quot; and carrying banners denouncing the government. Despite the country&rsquo;s president dissolving the government on Monday, AP reported that public anger continues to simmer. Nepal&rsquo;s activism blueprint Nepal&#39;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.

People protest against corruption and calling for healthcare and education reform, in Casablanca, Morocco, Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025. (AP)

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Youth-led Gen Z protests began in Bangladesh in 2024 and spread across Asia and Africa by 2025. Using digital platforms, activists oppose corruption, inequality, and poor infrastructure, demanding political change and elite accountability.

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

Reuters

ANTANANARIVO: Organisers of Madagascar&#39;s youth-led anti-government protests suspended marches in the capital Antananarivo on Thursday for 24 hours, citing concerns over demonstrators&#39; health and strength, but marches continued in other parts of the large island nation. Inspired by similar youth-led &quot;Gen Z&quot; protests in Kenya and Nepal, the rallies mark the largest wave of unrest in Madagascar in years and pose a significant challenge to President Andry Rajoelina, who was re-elected in 2023. The United Nations says at least 22 people have been killed and more than 100 injured so far in the week-long protests. The government rejects those figures. &quot;This is not a retreat but a strategy: we will come back together more united, stronger,&quot; Gen Z Madagascar, the protest movement&#39;s main leadership, said in a Facebook post, announcing the temporary suspension of protests in Antananarivo. A government spokesperson did not respond to Reuters&#39; requests for comment. Public anger over water shortages, power cuts Rajoelina dissolved the government late on Monday, but the move has failed to quell public anger, which first erupted last week in the capital over worsening water shortages and power cuts. The protesters are demanding Rajoelina&#39;s resignation and the dissolution of the election commission, the upper chamber Senate, and the country&#39;s top court. Protests continued outside the capital on Thursday, with hundreds marching in Toliara, some 925 km south of Antananarivo, chanting &quot;Rajoelina Out&quot; and carrying banners denouncing the president, footage aired by privately-owned Radio T&eacute;l&eacute;vision Siteny showed. In Diego Suarez, 950 km north of the capital, protesters were also marching under police escort, according to privately-owned media outlet Fitaproduction. Reliant on agriculture and tourism, the Indian Ocean nation remains one of Africa&#39;s poorest. Entrenched poverty, unaccountable elites Since Madagascar won independence from France in 1960, income per capita had fallen by 45% by 2020, according to the World Bank, which blames the poor economic performance on tight control of the economy and government by a small, unaccountable elite and on a lack of competition and transparency. Some demonstrators have carried flags depicting a grinning skull wearing a straw hat, in reference to a pirate flag from a Japanese manga that has become a popular symbol among young protesters around the world. &quot;The protests are not merely about utilities or governance failures; they are a rejection of a political order that has remained fundamentally unchanged for decades,&quot; Ketakandriana Rafitoson, the global vice-chair of Transparency International, wrote in a briefing on the crisis. &quot;Elite networks continue to capture state institutions, siphon public resources, and weaponize poverty to maintain control,&quot; wrote Rafitoson, who is also Malagasy. The Senate convened on Thursday to discuss potential nominees for the post of prime minister after failing to reach consensus on a candidate during earlier deliberations

Protesters gesture in front of riot police officers during a demonstration against frequent power outages and water shortages, in the capital Antananarivo, Madagascar, October 1, 2025. (Reuters)

Africa

Youth-led protests in Madagascar demanding President Rajoelina’s resignation over water and power shortages have been paused in the capital, Antananarivo, but continue in other parts of the country.

Madagascar youth protesters suspend marches in capital for 24 hours

RABAT: Youth protests in cities across Morocco turned far more violent on the fourth night of unrest, authorities said on Wednesday, reporting 263 members of the security forces and 23 civilians injured as demonstrators torched cars and ransacked shops. Protestsbegan on Saturday and have accelerated over successive nights. The demonstrations, demanding better education and healthcare, have been organised online by a loosely formed, anonymous youth group calling itself &quot;GenZ 212,&quot; using platforms including TikTok, Instagram and the gaming application Discord. On Tuesday&#39;s fourth night of demonstrations, young men brandished knives and threw Molotov cocktails and stones, the Interior Ministry&#39;s spokesperson said in a statement.He said 409 people had been taken into police custody. Administrative buildings, banks and shops were looted or vandalised in the Souss region cities of Ait Amira, Inezgane, Agadir and Tiznit as well as the eastern city of Oujda, he said. In posts on social media sites discussing the protests, the GenZ 212 group said it rejected violence and was committed to continuing peaceful protests. It said it had no argument with the security forces, only with the government. The Interior Ministry statement said 142 vehicles belonging to the security forces and 20 private cars had been set on fire. Peaceful protests over economic and social conditions have been recurrent in Morocco, but this week&#39;s demonstrations are the most violent since at least 2016 and 2017, when protesters clashed with security forces in the Rif region in the north. The Interior Ministry will uphold the right to protest in accordance with legal procedures, and will respond with &ldquo;restraint and self-control, avoiding provocation,&rdquo; the spokesperson said.

 A boy is detained while taking part in a youth led protest calling for education and health reforms, in Casablanca, Morocco, Monday, Sept. 29, 2025. (AP)

Asia

Middle East

Youth protests across Moroccan cities turned violent on the fourth night, injuring over 280 people and resulting in hundreds arrested as demonstrators burned cars and looted shops.

260 members of Moroccan security forces reported hurt as youth protests turn violent

ANTANANARIVO: Hundreds of protesters across Madagascar demanded the resignation of President Andry Rajoelina on Wednesday, taking to the streets for a fifth day of demonstrations that have shaken the government, local television broadcasts showed. Spurred by the so-called youth-led &quot;Gen Z&quot; protests in Kenya and Nepal, the demonstrations have been the largest the Indian Ocean island has seen in years, and the most serious challenge Rajoelina has faced since his re-election in 2023. The protests initially started in Antananarivo last week over nationwide water shortages and power blackouts but have since spread across the island, prompting Rajoelina to dissolve the government late on Monday. His move failed to assuage public anger. A message on the protest movement&#39;s Facebook page called for Rajoelina&#39;s resignation as well as the dissolution of the election commission, the senate and the country&#39;s top court. Protesters chant &lsquo;Rajoelina out&rsquo; The United Nations says at least 22 people have been killed and more than 100 injured since the protests started last week, figures the government rejects. On Wednesday, protesters took to the streets in the capital and towns including Toliara, 925 km (575 miles) south of Antananarivo, chanting &quot;get out&quot; and waving flags and banners with the words &quot;Rajoelina Out&quot;, footage broadcast by privately-owned Radio T&eacute;l&eacute;vision Siteny showed. They were escorted by security forces in vehicles, and other protesters in rickshaws, the footage showed. A government spokesperson did not respond to Reuters requests for comment, however the president&#39;s spokesperson Lova Ranoromaro said on social media that property had been destroyed and homes looted. &quot;We do not want a coup d&#39;etat, because a coup d&#39;etat destroys a nation, because a coup d&#39;etat destroys the future of our children,&quot; Ranoromaro wrote on her personal Facebook account. Opposition leader Rivo Rakotovao said the main opposition parties&#39; alliance Firaisankina would not join any new government with Rajoelina in power, and called on him to step down. &quot;We fully support this action to rescue the Malagasy people and rebuild the nation, led by the Malagasy people and driven by the youth,&quot; Rakotovao told a news conference. Rajoelina first came to power in a 2009 coup. He stepped down in 2014 but became president again after winning the 2018 election, and secured a third term in a December 2023 poll that his challengers said was marred by irregularities. In a message from the Vatican, Pope Leo said he was saddened by the violent clashes in the predominantly Christian nation. &quot;Let us pray to the Lord that every form of violence may always be avoided and that the constant pursuit of social harmony may be fostered through the promotion of justice and the common good,&quot; he said in his weekly address.

A protester kicks a tear gas canister lobbed by Malagasy riot police officers to disperse protesters during a demonstration against frequent power outages and water shortages, within Antaninandro neighborhood, in Antananarivo, Madagascar. (Reuters)

Protests entered fifth day in Madagascar as the public demanded President Rajoelina’s resignation over water shortages and blackouts. Over 22 have been reported dead even as government reshuffled.

Articles tagged with "Gen Z protests"

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

Madagascar youth protesters suspend marches in capital for 24 hours

260 members of Moroccan security forces reported hurt as youth protests turn violent

Madagascar protesters demand president's resignation in fifth day of rallies