The Power of Youth Voice
A debate over the extent of youth participation in politics has existed at some level through generational shifts and ideological changes. But today, the argument that young people are apolitical, apathetic, and too young to think critically has reached its victory as the discussion has stagnated. Prominent Indian novelist and columnist Chetan Bhagat went so far as to argue that “Gen Z is not interested in politics…90% of them do not care” in his most recent book. Despite this application in political perceptions of younger voters, recent history proves this perspective entirely wrong: Gen Z has played an important role in activism—challenging regimes, reshaping public discourse, and, recently, toppling entire nations. Gen Z has used their tools, including social media and historic widespread global connection, to raise awareness and take direct action.
Different governments, different legal systems, all thousands of miles apart—universally Gen Z protesters from Peru to Indonesia have adopted a common symbol to represent their discontent with their governments’ policies and corruption: the flag from the anime and manga “One Piece.” This graphic novel features Captain Luffy and his crew the Straw Hat Pirates as they fight against corrupt authorities, such as the Autocratic World Government. Since its debut in 1997, “One Piece” has been a part of the childhood of many young people around the world. Now, this pop symbol transcends language barriers, uniting Gen Z movements under a single banner of resistance against tyrannies in South America, Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
Casualties of the Gen Z Movement
On the domestic scale, Gen Z has noticeably begun to shape elections (especially on a smaller level). In the New York City mayoral race, victor Zohran Mamdani was backed by 75% of voters ages 18-29; the demographic of which made up nearly 20% of the total vote. That percentage, and demographic, is credited with securing Mamdani’s upset win against previously established candidate Andrew Cuomo. Post election season, Gen Z is credited with seat upsets across the nation; and this victory was marketed as the product of the enthusiasm young people had for the Mamdani’s socialistic spirit. In reality, it’s likely reflecting the increasing priority of the economy and hunger for change among young people.
Gen Z protests internationally, focused on the same front of economic resistance, prompted influential tax reforms in Kenya. Protests in the streets (organized via social media) began in mid-June 2024, in response to the public release of the 2024 Finance Bill which aimed to introduce punitive and regressive taxes targeting essential goods, like bread, sanitary products, and digital services. President Willian Ruto eventually reversed his support of the Finance Bill and opted not to sign it into law.
Much more different and violent than the economic worries of Gen Z protesters is the public protest that has ravaged Eastern Asia in the past two years. In Bangladesh, a low income country where the biggest proportion of the population is between the ages of 0 and 34, a series of violent protests in July of 2024 ousted the 15-year Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. These protests, which spanned about a month, involved the killing of nearly 1400 protesters by military forces—an action ordered by the PM. On August 5th, as protesters neared Hasina’s private residence in capital Dhaka, Hasina resigned and fled to India (a country with which Hasina maintained a strong relationship). Interim president and human rights activist Muhammad Yunus was installed to pioneer the future of Bangladesh (though he hasn’t been extremely successful) and through tribunal, Bangladeshi courts sentenced Hasina in absentia to death—a gesture indicative of the unrealized corruption and instability felt within her regime.
Bangladesh’s upheaval is not an isolated case, but a part of a broader global pattern in which Gen Z has emerged as the primary opposition against corrupt governments. In the Philippines, Gen Z-led protests have persisted since September 4 against a corruption scandal involving the country’s flood control project. More than 11,000 miles away in Peru, the Generation Z Collective led a series of protests against the former president Dina Boluarte, who has been under investigation for corruption, bribery, and for her role in the death of 50 protesters at the beginning of her government in 2022. She was impeached on October 10, 2025. In Morocco, the government also faced accusations of corruption; protesters criticized the government’s multi-billion-dollar spending on stadiums for the 2030 FIFA World Cup and the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations. Two youth collectives took to the streets to advocate for improvements in public education and healthcare—Genz212 and Moroccan Youth Voice.
Just days after Filipino protests began, Nepalese youth organized peaceful protests on September 8th of 2025. Across capital Kathmandu and larger Nepalese municipalities, young people flooded the streets with the hopes of raising awareness for governmental corruption (10 cases of corruption at the Prime Ministerial level ravaged the courts last year, and embezzlement reached an all time high). In addition, Nepal’s growing wealth gap, high unemployment rate, and near-static GDP have long exacerbated national economic tensions. But perhaps the final straw for youth came just four days before protests commenced, when Prime Minister Khadga Oli banned 26 social media networks, condemning them for the spread of disinformation and fraudulence.
But these logical protests, very clearly expressed by leading activists like Sudan Gurung as a peaceful “movement for justice” for any Nepali unhappy with their present situation, quickly escalated as 19 protesters were killed by state forces midday on the 8th of September. The protests, and this country, both dominated by the under-thirty population which makes up 56% of the nation, evolved into violence. Administration/legislative buildings, tax offices, and customs centers were all set ablaze. Municipal jails were sprung by mob-like rage taking over the country. And then: PM Oli nearly forcibly resigned, with the hope of avoiding a larger scale crisis. He repeals the social media ban, and then leaves. Upon his resignation, near instantaneously, the fighting ended. Nepalese protesters spray paint words of affirmation on newly burned buildings, and turn to protest organizers, including the group “Hami Nepal” for the way forward.
In definitively the most unconventional (and quickest) election in Nepali history, a poll was conducted on American-based social media platform Discord—one which had been banned by Oli just a few days prior. Perhaps indicative of Nepali youth, the election broke with more traditional (“geriatric”) voting systems, abandoning traditional methods of decision. In that Discord poll, 7,713 participated. And as a result, former Supreme Court Chief Justice Sushila Karki (known for her successful prosecution of prominent corrupt Nepali leaders) emerged victorious, as a 6-month interim PM. She won with a majority of 3,833 votes, and immediately commissioned a new slate of elections for Nepal to be held in March 2026.
Similar to Nepal, people under 30 make up half of the population in Indonesia. However, the reasons for their outrage were different. Although the Gen Z from both countries were also protesting against corrupt elites, in Indonesia, the public demonstrations began on August 25 against housing allowances for Members of Parliament that were nearly ten times the minimum wage in Jakarta. At the same time, President Prawobo Subianto implemented strict austerity measures, including cuts to education, health, and public works. The demonstrations turned into nationwide riots after the killing of a 21-year-old delivery driver who was run over by a police vehicle on August 28 as he protested. One day after he was brutally killed, three regional parliament buildings were set ablaze by protesters. Following the police violence suffered by marches (11 were killed and over 900 were injured according to Amnesty International), the hashtag SEAblings emerged as a sign of solidarity.
In no time, the One Piece flag—a skull crossed by two bones, with a straw hat and a grinning smile—started being displayed in protests, on the back of cars, and spraypainted on the streets. For many, the anime reflects the injustice and inequality that Indonesians experience, said a resident from the Papua province. The demands from the Indonesians were named “17+8”, with its core values being transparency, reformation, and empathy. The requests varied from the release of the protesters to the review of economic and labor policies. Under pressure, the president fired five ministers; however, minimal policy changes were made.
In the myriad of Gen Z protests, an initially peaceful movement asking for change has morphed into a violent one seizing it. The powers young people are rising up against around the world are regimes with quite harsh punishment. And although many times they may fail, such large scale protests as these have something impactful at their basis. People–even the young people seen as naive leading these protests–don’t risk their lives for something trivial.
In the southern hemisphere, Madagascar has become another example of a Gen Z-led protest, over the issue that many expect to be key to future conflicts worldwide: the deterioration of environmental resources to the point of destruction. On September 25, a black-out and water shortage in Antananarivo, Madagascar’s capital, triggered a series of nonviolent protests in 2025. Thousands of primarily young marchers joined in denunciation of the government’s lack of ability to meet their citizens’ basic needs. On September 29, the UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk reported that police intervention, using tear gas and beating, resulted in the death of at least 22 and injured more than 100 people. That same day, President Andry Rajoelina dismissed Prime Minister Christian Ntsay and the cabinet, claiming that officials had not “carried out the tasks assigned to them,” even as protestors continued to demand Rajoelina’s own resignation and broader improvements on corruption and living conditions.
By mid-October, the opposition led to a transfer of power, with CAPSAT commander Michael Randrianirina announcing October 13, on national radio that “We have taken power,” and laid out a 2 year military-committee, suspending the national senate, High Constitutional Court, and electoral commission. The same day, Rajoelina issued a decree dissolving the National Assembly as a pre-emptive move ahead of Randrianirina’s regime. On October 14, lawmakers at the National Assembly impeached him regardless, and the CAPSAT unit took charge, effectively ending Rajoelina’s rule.
Public opinion of this regime change has been conflicted. Many young protestors initially welcomed CAPSAT’s standoff against Rajoelina’s security forces, with Randrianirina being photographed amidst crowds of youth demonstrators. At the same time, young people are alert to the democratic processes to follow, particularly an election, and the threats to freedom presented by military rule. While the change has not immediately improved the ongoing electricity and water shortage, many take heart in the change from the status quo.
Similar youth-driven mobilization has also reshaped politics in Europe, where Gen Z has protested to challenge government policies and corruption: On December 1, Bulgaria’s Gen Z took to the streets in the largest nationwide demonstration in decades. The trigger for the protest was a draft budget proposing higher taxes and social security contributions to finance more public spending in Bulgaria, one of the European Union’s poorest countries. Although, in no time, Bulgarians also started advocating for the end of corruption. Two days after the protest that gathered more than 100,000 people in front of Bulgaria’s parliament in capital Sofia, the government tried to pass the budget in 30 seconds during a lunch break. With the help of social media campaigns on TikTok and Instagram, the Bulgarian Gen Z played a crucial role in gathering around 150,000 people in Sofia one week after the administration tried to pass the draft budget. Under this pressure, the prime minister Rosen Zhelyazkov handed in the resignation of his government on December 11.
Finally and most currently, the case of the Gen Z movement’s involvement in the seeming ongoing collapse of the government of the Iranian mullahs led by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei must be examined. Iran is a very young country, with an average age a little higher than 34. The problem for the youth of Iran is distinct, with a youth unemployment rate higher than 20%, bleak prospects even after having acquired a job with little opportunity for career advancement, and an ongoing currency value crisis. That same crisis, combined with the repression of Sharia law, caused a recent slate of regime-destabilizing protests in the country that has brought the government of the mullahs to its knees. Whereas 2022’s “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests failed to bring conservative Iranians to the streets, January’s have been quite different as all Iranians recognize the potential harms of the country’s economic collapse. Amid the crisis, the Gen Z movement has recognized the opportunity to distinguish itself, with millions coming out to protest. Iran Wire interviewed 17-year old Tarlan, who said that every time she heads out to protest, she writes “I’m willing to be the next one, if it means I’ll be the last” in lipstick on her mirror. For many Iranians this is a desolate reality: as many as 572 protestors have been killed by police since the start of this month’s protests. However, even with a distinctly local opportunity-focused movement, international forces have sought to co-opt the power of the youth. Indeed, the United States and Israel have called for the installation of Reza Pahlavi in Iran, the son of the 1953 CIA-installed Shah later ousted in his own revolution. Even as videos have come out of Iran of protestors calling for the Shah’s reinstallation, it’s doubtful that millions of protesting Iranians would favor such a figure considering that Pahlavi lives in the suburbs of Washington D.C. Recognizing the potential of the movement himself, Pahlavi has suggested that he will soon return to Iran “so that at the time of our national revolution’s victory, I can be beside [the Iranians].” Furthermore, US President Trump stated that the US is “considering very strong options” for Iran. All the opportunistic eyes on Iran recognize the power of the historically repressed youth, and seek to capitalize. Considering that historical international interventions in Iran have only led to the worsening of quality of life for Iranians, more important than anything else to the future of Gen Z Iranians is reasserting their own view for the future and rejecting foreign interference as well as the shackles of the past. To pursue the brightest future possible, international protestors cannot allow that brightness to be obscured by that past.
What comes next?
As we look back on two years of youth-led protests, it’s clearer than ever that Gen Z is far from being apolitical. In fact, the generation has proven itself to be a key turning point in a world where democracy is in crisis and authoritarian governments are on the rise. By innovating new forms of political expression—from Discord-based elections in Nepal to the One Piece flag as a symbol of global revolution—young people have replaced stereotypes of apathy with a demand for accountability and attention.
They have proven that they can topple regimes, but they now face a much harder challenge: sustainability. Will the movements prompted by such unconventional protesters—and even more unconventional methods—lead to sustained change? Or will they falter as weak, just like the very regimes they rose up against took them for?
The protesters themselves may argue how different their methods have made them: their fiercely democratic expression per Discord and border-spanning anti-corruption attitude has forced them to be more resilient to the pitfalls of infighting and bribery. But today, as even the most influential powers falter, the future of countries toppled by Gen Z is something to watch.
