While the West considers Gen Z as a “lazy” generation, Gen Z continues to defy these stereotypes through their determination to make change.

In the past year, protests primarily led by members of Gen Z have ensued in numerous countries across the globe, including Nepal, Madagascar, Morocco, and Kenya. They are driven by an urge to combat government corruption, unfair policies, and economic collapse.

In Nepal, the protests led to the government being overthrown, at the cost of more than 70 lives.  The country’s interim prime minister, Sushila Karki, is the first female prime minister of Nepal.

In Madagascar, youth-led protests led to a successful coup in October, forcing then-president Andry Rajoelina to flee the country. At least 22 people were killed in Madagascar’s protests.

An even bigger Gen Z uprising occurred in Bangladesh in 2024, when protesters were upset at the country’s leader, Sheikh Hasina, because of discriminatory hiring practices for government jobs.

The government brutally cracked down on these protests, killing at least 800 protesters and injuring thousands more. However, the protests proved to be successful after Hasina resigned and fled the country in fear for her life on August 5 of that year. The country is now led by Muhammad Yunus.

One question remains from all of this: Why Gen Z?

One possible answer is social media. With simple posts and tweets, activists have been able to organize and spread awareness very quickly. This allows for the often leaderless movements to gain traction.

This has been a trend since the Arab Spring protests in the early 2010s, where activism was spread out through many individuals, and no single person led the charge.

As a Research Fellow at the German Institute for Global and Area Studies Janjira Sombatpoonsiri writes, “Social media enables young people to share personal experiences of injustice and connect them to broader socioeconomic structures of inequality, abuse of power, and the absence of a secure future.”

The connection that social media creates allows for unity and solidarity among people from all walks of life, allowing for powerful protests that can bring about change. With social media, it is also much harder to censor information. Past attempts to censor social media content have only lead to more turmoil, as seen from Nepal’s protests.

The Gen Z protests are a testament to social media’s positive impact in humanity’s pursuit for change, and how unity among people from all walks of life leads to successful change within governments.

However, it has not been proven that the change the protests brought will last in the long run. We have seen many leaders start off benevolent to remain in power initially, but worsen as time moved on.

This was the case after the Arab spring protests in 2011. Although a large number of dictators were overthrown across the Arab World, most countries in the region descended further into chaos, with war and corruption damaging the country even more severely.

Libya, for example, descended into a six-year civil war from 2014 to 2020, just three years after the assassination of their dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

In Egypt, democratically-elected president Mohammed Morsi was overthrown in a coup d’etat in 2013, just one year after gaining the title.

This paved the way for autocrat Abdel Fattah el-sisi, who has been ruling the country since 2014, to come in power. Libya and Egypt represent the two common outcomes of the Arab Spring protests.

Even in Nepal, right now, many citizens are not satisfied with the country’s condition after the government overthrow, with there being limited structure and trust.

While the Gen Z protests are a testament to the strengths of social media and community, it’s too early to believe that change has been truly brought—and the answer will be in the years that come.