Over the past few months, protesters have been dying en masse in Tanzania, the parliament of Nepal was laid to ruin and the military has taken de facto control of Madagascar. The core connecting variable between each of these events is the Gen Z-led anti-government protests in each nation. Since September, over 10 countries within Asia and Africa have experienced large-scale anti-corruption and anti-authoritarian movements primarily composed of 13-28 year olds. The combination of economic pressures, namely, youth unemployment, inflation, sticky wages and inept government spending, within these states has catalyzed protests against the governments’ (until now ignored) transgressions against their peoples.
Two ongoing protests are occurring in Morocco and Tanzania. The Moroccan government has faced significant backlash from the people due to its overspending on infrastructure for the African Cup of Nations football tournament and the 2030 World Cup. The demonstrations have been spearheaded by a group known as Gen Z 212, with demands for better schools, hospitals and broader political freedoms. As of now, the government has stated its commitment to dialogue and accelerating reforms; however, the protesters remain largely unconvinced.
Shortly after the Tanzanian election on October 29, mass demonstrations began to spring up across the country, only to be met with open fire by the military. President Samia Suluhu Hassan has been legitimately accused of engaging in a rigorous campaign to rig the nation’s election, banning opposition parties, kidnapping political rivals and falsifying votes. Hassan stealing the election was the final straw, with previously ignored economic and political grievances bubbling to the surface. The protests are currently ongoing, with neither side willing to capitulate.
Many of these seemingly independent protest movements have all adopted the same rallying banner, the “Jolly Roger”. The flag itself comes from the popular anime One Piece, in which the protagonists fight against an oppressive, corrupt government, drawing direct parallels to the struggles of these youth movements. The flag’s first appearance was in 2023 during pro-Palestinian marches in Indonesia. Its true rise to prominence, however, was during the Nepalese student-protests, which saw a successful regime change occur within the country. Since then, it has become THE symbol of this rapidly growing trend of youth dissent.
One of the reasons the protests and their accompanying Jolly Roger have been able to spread across continents is thanks to social media. The various messaging and posting features of these social media platforms allow them to coordinate protests without formalized, structured leadership. This allows these movements to organize quickly and effectively. However, it leaves these mass political demonstrations open to being co-opted/hijacked by groups who can take advantage of the leadership gap, as seen in Madagascar, where the military has taken power.
With the combination of social media coordination and rising economic pressures, these nations’ young demographics have both the means and motivation to push back against their stagnant governments, which previous generations had simply tolerated. Authoritarian policies and corrupt government activities define political norms within these developing nations; consequently, the trend of youth-led protests will naturally continue into 2026. These movements have become the hallmark of Generation Z’s entry into the political sphere, demonstrating one of the first instances of their agency in enacting real change on an international scale.
