Morocco’s gen Z move their protest online … and all the king’s men click to follow

First the young rose up in Nepal, then Madagascar. Now Moroccans are using gaming platforms to voice their own fury. Olivia Acland reports from Agadir and Casablanca

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“It is scary, but fear doesn’t stop us,” says Salma Amrani. Leaning over a low table ina dimly lit Casablanca coffee shop, the 21-year-old lights a cigarette and scans the room, conscious she lives in a place where baristas are sometimes paid to eavesdrop. “Fear does not control our actions,” she adds, finally.

Amrani was one of thousands of youngsters who surged into the streets in September and October. The protesters chanted slogans such as “Hospitals not stadiums” and “Healthcare first” - a jab at the state’s plan to pour billions into hotels, airports and stadiums ahead of the 2030 World Cup, even as public hospitals limp on with broken scanners and staff shortages.

Security forces responded with rapid force. Videos circulated online of young women being shoved into police vans, screaming in protest, their handcuffed wrists raised defiantly over their heads. Thousands of people were carted off to prison, where they are now either awaiting trial or already serving sentences of up to 15 years for offences such as “rebellion as part of a group” and violence against officials.

Despite Amrani’s brave front, fear clearly stopped some. After a two-month lull, GenZ212 — named after Morocco’s international dialling code - returned to the streets last Wednesday night. This time, their numbers were smaller. Hundreds, not thousands, of young people lined street corners and public squares in cities across Morocco.

While Morocco’s security forces spared most gen Zers this time, they refused to let bereaved families protest in peace. Parents and siblings of three young men shot by policemen at a demonstration in October gathered outside parliament in Rabat demanding “truth and justice”. A van soon pulled up, and policemen bundled the grieving families inside, detaining them for several hours.