Starting January 2024, a series of youth-led mobilisations has swept across 39 countries from Indonesia to Peru, through June this year. While the protests appear to have unrelated causes, the rise in informal political participation by young people has seen the synergy of a connected, global movement.
Most of these campaigns are leaderless and organised on social media, primarily TikTok and Discord, making it challenging to identify their participants.[1] The difficulty begins with a simpler question: who are the youth? And what did they achieve?
There is no globally accepted definition of ‘youth’. The United Nations, the World Bank, the European Union, and the African Union all define ‘youth’ using different age ranges. This infographic uses the European Union definition, counting individuals aged 15-29 as youth.[2] It aligns with the broader Generation Z, or Gen Z, identity, describing individuals born between 1997 and 2012 – the core identity of this wave of protests.[3]
Their achievements are mixed, but important to study. This infographic maps the surge of youth-led protests across 39 countries, examining how they spread, what triggered them, how they were organised and executed, and how governments responded.[4]
Figure 1: Outcomes of youth-led movements in 39 countries between January 2024 and June 2026
Source: Gateway House [5]
The outcomes of the protests vary widely. In four countries, the protests are ongoing, or the government response is still under deliberation. In 19 of the 39 countries, the government made policy concessions, officials resigned, or both. In the remaining 16 countries, the government did not concede to any demands made by protesters. There is no observable link between the end results of the protest and the country’s governance structure. Chile, a liberal democracy, conceded as little as China, a closed autocracy.[6]
In three special cases, an official was removed from power. For instance, President Rajoelina of Madagascar was impeached, and the military took over in October 2025. In Kenya, the withdrawal of a Finance Bill in June 2024 imposing additional taxes on essential goods during a cost-of-living crisis was accompanied by a near-total cabinet dismissal.
Table 1: Timeline of youth-led protests across 39 countries
Source: Gateway House[7]
By their causes, the protests do not appear to be a single, larger movement. The reasons for mobilising ranged from economic malaise and allegations of state corruption to allegations of electoral fraud and the introduction of unpopular bills or constitutional changes. The roots of the grievances vary even when viewed regionally.
Still, this youth wave saw protesters across the globe connect and inspire one another. Protesters in Togo, Kenya, and Morocco saw their movements as part of a wider youth awakening.[8] Those in Madagascar, Mexico, and Peru were influenced by Nepalese protesters,[9] who in turn drew connections with Filipino and Indonesian youth[10] through hashtags such as #nepobaby and #lifestylecheck.[11] Malagasy youth even joined Nepalese Discord servers for advice on mobilising.[12]
Symbols from the protests travelled globally in a similar manner. The Straw Hat flag from the manga One Piece, meant to signify freedom and hope,[13] appeared not only in the countries mentioned above but also in Timor-Leste, France, Bulgaria, and Paraguay. In Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea, K-Pop light sticks were used to signify peaceful demonstrations.[14] This connection through imitation, said Nuurrianti Jalli[15], assistant professor of media at Oklahoma State University, “[t]hey’re not speaking the same language, but they understand what the story is about.”[16] Social media enabled youth across the world, despite differences in identity, language, and issue, to support, learn, and connect with one another.
Figure 2: Number of protests globally, Jul 2010-Dec 2012 and Jan 2024-Jun 2026
Source: Gateway House
The idea of a global wave of youth protests is not new. Between July 2010 and December 2012, there were 28 youth protests across South Asia, Africa, Europe, the Americas, and, particularly, West Asia and North Africa, where the Arab uprisings resulted in government and regime changes, and civil wars.
Figure 3: Number of protests globally, Jul 2010-Dec 2012 and Jan 2024-Jun 2026
Source: Gateway House[17]
The two waves of protest followed a similar course. During the first wave, a six-month surge between January and June 2011 was largely propelled by movements against corruption and socioeconomic disparity in West Asia and North Africa – the Arab uprisings – and the India Against Corruption movement in India, with youth and digital participation.[18] (The momentum from these carried into the Occupy Wall Street movement in the U.S. in September 2011, and the 2014 Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong against Beijing’s tightening control over the city-state.)
A similar six-month surge in the recent wave, between July and December 2025, saw “Gen Z” protests break out in quick succession. Unlike in 2011, however, the current surge was not limited to one region; it spread across Southeast and South Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America. The protests were largely organised in the same way. Most seemed decentralised and leaderless, with social media used as a key platform for organising – although in 2025 the role of Facebook and Twitter was substituted by TikTok and Discord. Governments attempted to reuse old tactics: Egypt’s January 2011 internet shutdown to weaken mobilisations was replicated in Bangladesh in July 2024.[19] However, protestors adapted, and in 2025, young protestors in Madagascar planned ahead by downloading a Bluetooth-based offline messaging app BitChat to communicate.[20]
The outcomes reveal that protests are an effective tool for change: in 19 of the 39 countries, the government conceded, or an official resigned (see Figure 1). A resignation or a policy reversal, however, does not fix the underlying conditions in the country.
In a world with growing conflicts and strained economies, young people are engaging with global and regional issues more than ever. Yet, with the average age of parliamentarians at 51.6,[21] they form one of the least represented groups in formal politics. In democracies, this leaves youth feeling underserved. In countries with authoritarian or hybrid regimes, there is often no meaningful channel to raise concerns or express dissent. In both cases, however, the street has become the most accessible political platform for young individuals to voice their frustrations.
N.B. Three suggestions to include the youth and take protests off the streets: greater transparency over decisions that impact them, lower entry barriers to candidacy in parliaments or political parties, and increased engagement with formal channels.
Viral Chheda, Arshia Dolwani, and Alaikaa Gupta are interns at Gateway House.
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References:
[1] United Nations, ‘From TikTok to Global Movements: How Young People Are Changing Activism’, United Nations Western Europe, 25 September 2026, https://unric.org/en/from-tiktok-to-global-movements-how-young-people-are-changing-activism/; Mantoiu, ‘The 2025 Surge in Gen Z Protests Is Continuing in 2026’.
[2] European Education and Culture Executive Agency, ‘New Publication: The Situation of Young People in the European Union – European Education and Culture Executive Agency’, European Commission, accessed 2 October 2026, https://www.eacea.ec.europa.eu/news-events/news/new-publication-situation-young-people-european-union-2025-05-02_en.
[3] Michael Dimock, ‘Defining generations: Where Millennials end and Generation Z begins’, Pew Research Center, 17 January 2019, https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2019/01/17/where-millennials-end-and-generation-z-begins/
[4] In this dataset, a country is included only if its protests were led or organised primarily by youth, or if the youth made up the majority of participants. Countries such as South Korea, where the “MZ” label groups teenagers with people in their 40s, and Mozambique, where demographic data for the protest is lacking despite knowledge that its population is skewed to a younger demographic, are intentionally excluded.
[5] Data collection began with a review of media coverage and news articles, which served as an entry point for identifying protest activity and led to related and more recent protest events. The dataset includes only protests that began between January 2024 and June 2026, while outcomes are recorded as they stood on August 31, 2026. A review of the overall number of protests recorded during the outlined period was conducted and it was further narrowed to those that were youth-led, Gen Z-led, or student-led. Local and international media sources, interviews and testimonies, academic journals, and protest trackers, including the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Global Protest Tracker and the Global Nonviolent Action Database, were used to cross-reference events and verify details such as dates, locations, and participant profiles.
[6] V-Dem, “Political Regime,” processed by Our World in Data, 2026, dataset, original data from V-Dem, Democracy Report v16, accessed October 7, 2026, https://ourworldindata.org/regimes-of-the-world-data.
[7] Click here for full data set reference document: Click here
[8] Kaamil Ahmed, ‘What Drove Gen Z Protests That Brought down Governments and Called out Corruption? Five Activists Explain’, Global Development, The Guardian, 30 December 2025, https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/dec/30/gen-z-protests-corruption-five-activists-nepal-madagascar-togo-kenya-morocco-protesters.
[9] ‘MEXICO: “The Protests Meant the Public Emergence of Gen Z as a Force with a Voice of Its Own”’, Civicus Lens: Perspectives for a Changing World, 31 May 2026, https://lens.civicus.org/interview/mexico-the-protests-meant-the-public-emergence-of-gen-z-as-a-force-with-a-voice-of-its-own/ ; Victoria Valenzuela, “Youth-Led Protesters Ousted Peru’s President, and They’re Not Done,” Waging Nonviolence, November 18, 2025, https://wagingnonviolence.org/2025/11/youth-protesters-ousted-peru-president-boluarte-not-done/.
[10] Will Mortenson, ‘Gen Z Protests Have Spread to Seven Countries. What Do They All Have in Common?’, Atlantic Council, 6 November 2025, https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/gen-z-protests-have-spread-to-seven-countries-what-do-they-all-have-in-common/.
[11]r/lifestylecheckPH, Reddit, accessed October 6, 2026, https://www.reddit.com/r/lifestylecheckPH/.
[12] Shi, Xuefei. “Gen Z, Digital Activism, and Regime Change in Madagascar.” Stiftung Wissenschaft Und Politik (SWP). Accessed October 7, 2026. https://www.swp-berlin.org/en/publication/mta-spotlight-61-gen-z-digital-activism-and-regime-change-in-madagascar.
[13] “How Global Gen Z Protests Have Shocked and Transformed Governments | Council on Foreign Relations.” Accessed October 7, 2026. https://www.cfr.org/articles/how-global-gen-z-protests-have-shocked-and-transformed-governments.
[14] ‘Youth Representation in Parliament Flatlines for First Time in 12 Years’, Inter-Parliamentary Union, 5 October 2026, https://www.ipu.org/news/press-releases/2026-04/youth-representation-in-parliament-flatlines-first-time-in-12-years; Yuko Sasama, ‘The Soundscape of Penlights’, note（ノート）, 18 April 2026, https://note.com/connectconnect/n/n12e848d2cf19; Lorraine Pan, ‘Taiwan Is My Favourite: K-Pop Fans in The Bluebird Movement’, Taiwan Insight, 2 May 2025, https://taiwaninsight.org/2025/05/02/taiwan-is-my-favourite-k-pop-fans-in-the-bluebird-movement/; Chee-Hann Wu, ‘Winter Bluebirds: K-Pop in the Social Movement’, Taiwan Insight, 27 January 2025, https://taiwaninsight.org/2025/01/27/winter-bluebirds-k-pop-in-the-social-movement/.
[15] https://eastasiaforum.org/author/nuurrianti-jalli/ Nuurrianti Jalli | East Asia Forum | East Asia Forum. n.d. Accessed October 8, 2026. https://eastasiaforum.org/author/nuurrianti-jalli/.
[16]Nuurrianti Jalli, “From Anime to Activism: How the One Piece Pirate Flag Became the Global Emblem of Gen Z Resistance,” The Conversation, September 24, 2025, https://theconversation.com/from-anime-to-activism-how-the-one-piece-pirate-flag-became-the-global-emblem-of-gen-z-resistance-265526.
[17] Cumulative number of countries with youth protests, counted every six months. July 2010 to December 2012 (28 countries) includes the Arab uprisings and is compared with January 2024 to June 2026 (39 countries). The same inclusion criteria apply to both periods: protests led or organised primarily by youth, or with youth as the majority of participants. Data was gathered from news articles and research papers published at the time of each protest.
[18] Yerkes, Sarah, and Kathryn Selfe. ‘Why Morocco’s Gen Z Protests Aren’t a Second Arab Spring’. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 21 October 2025. https://carnegieendowment.org/emissary/2025/10/morocco-gen-z-212-protests-arab-spring-healthcare-education-world-cup.
[19] Walid, Sad Ebne. ‘Internet Blackouts in Bangladesh: A Breach of Fundamental and International Human Rights’. Youth Policy Forum, 4 August 2024. https://ypfbd.org/internet-blackout-in-bd/; ‘The Case of Communications Suspension and Internet Shutdown During the 2011 Egyptian Revolution’, Global Freedom of Expression | Columbia University, n.d., accessed 1 October 2026, https://cgfoetestsite.mystagingwebsite.com/cases/communications-suspension-and-internet-shutdown-case-during-the-2011-egyptian-revolution/.
[20] Ibid note 12.
[21] ‘Data on Age: By Country’. IPU Parline: Global Data on National Parliaments, n.d. Accessed 6 October 2026. https://data.ipu.org/age-brackets/.