You can love them, roll your eyes at them, or simply get baffled by their slang, but one thing is certain: Generation Z can’t be ignored. Born between the late 1990s and early 2010s, Gen Z is often dismissed as entitled, impatient, selfish, disrespectful, or in their lingo - ‘delulu.’ But beneath the viral memes, TikTok videos, and reels is a feisty generation unwilling to bow down to any authority, simply because it is authority. Far from being delulu, Gen Z is spearheading some of the most significant transformations across the globe.
Watching them, it is hard not to think of French philosopher Auguste Comte and his theory of positivism. Comte argued that social change is closely tied to the succession of generations. He believed that as new generations come of age, they bring with them a new set of ideas that naturally challenge rigid institutional ideas. Interestingly, though Comte’s reflections date back to 1848, they have remained strikingly relevant across centuries.
Of course, activism is not an invention by the Zoomers. Every generation before them has challenged the status quo in their own ways. However, what is different today is the way this generation is skillfully using the internet to translate digital noise into real action. Armed with strong tech connectivity, these youngsters have increasingly taken up social, political, and environmental causes and shown that a smartphone can sometimes be as powerful as a megaphone.
Early signs of Gen Z activism emerged around 2018, when Swedish Gen Z activist Greta Thunberg began pressuring governments to address climate change. Her activism kickstarted the ‘Fridays for Future’ climate movement, where school students skipped Friday classes to participate in demonstrations to demand action from political leaders to prevent climate change. In the USA, young David Hogg came into the limelight as another Gen Z activist, leading demonstrations against gun violence.
In recent years, the youth activism wave has swelled into something far more powerful and political. Be it Indonesia, Madagascar, the Philippines, Morocco, Bangladesh, Nepal, Kenya, or, most recently, India, Gen Z has emerged as a formidable political force worldwide.
Interestingly, for these Gen Zers, who grew up with a phone in hand, activism does not necessarily begin in a meeting room, an office, or a university auditorium. It can start with a post, a video, a hashtag, a meme, or a message forwarded across group chats.
In 2024, the world saw one of the first major Gen Z–led uprisings unfold in Bangladesh. What began as student opposition to government job quotas quickly grew into the July Uprising, a much broader movement against the government. The protests turned deadly, but eventually led to major changes in the quota system and, ultimately, the removal of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Though the July revolution started on university campuses, it gained enormous momentum through Facebook groups, messaging apps, and hashtag campaigns that helped students coordinate blockades and share information in real time. Around the same time in Kenya, online agitation over a tax-hike proposal brought youngsters onto the streets of Nairobi.
In September 2025, Nepal offered the best example of how quickly the youth uprising template could travel across borders. Anger over corruption and the lavish lifestyles of politicians’ children had already been simmering, and then the government banned dozens of social media platforms, including Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram. The ban sparked nationwide protests, eventually forcing Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli to resign. A similarly youth-driven pattern also played out in Madagascar, where the protest brought President Andry Rajoelina's government down within a matter of weeks.
Indian Gen Z, too, joined this growing list in 2026. Interestingly, the seed of the movement was sown in a courtroom. In May 2026, Chief Justice of India Surya Kant remarked during a Supreme Court hearing that unemployed young people who turned to social media and activism were like ‘cockroaches.’ The remark prompted Communications Strategist Abhijeet Dipke to launch a satirical online movement called the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP). Powered by memes and AI-generated content, within days the account's Instagram following went up to 20 million, more than the ruling party's (BJP) own page.
What began as a joke soon tapped into students’ outrage over recurring exam irregularities and NEET paper leaks. The online movement spilled into the streets, with Dipke joining students and scientist Sonam Wangchuk at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. Protests subsequently spread to Mumbai, Bengaluru, and other major cities. After weeks of mass demonstrations, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan finally resigned.
The Gen Z-led protest in India is a classic example of how quickly digital outrage can translate into an offline movement. And that perhaps defines the biggest characteristic of this new wave of youth activism. These digital natives don’t consider online and offline spaces as separate worlds. For them, both are platforms to make their voices heard.
Award-winning author Lucie Greene points out, “In an era of fake news and the filter bubble, Gen Z is also more likely to be able to push through the noise. Not only are they able to consume more information than any group before, but they have also become accustomed to cutting through it. They are perhaps the most brand-critical, bullshit-repellent, questioning group around and will call out any behavior they dislike on social media.”
This new wave of youth activism is a reminder of what Comte foresaw nearly two centuries ago—the power of generational change. Will these movements deliver lasting institutional reform? Well, that remains to be seen, but one thing is pretty clear: the voice of the youth just cannot be silenced easily.
