From Kathmandu to Casablanca, a generation under surveillance is rising up

In 2025, youth-led protests erupted everywhere, from Morocco to Nepal, Madagascar and Europe.

- BY AMANI BRAA Assistant Lecturer, Sociologie, Université de Montréal

A generation refused to remain silent in the face of economic precariousness, corruption and eroding democratic norms and institutions.Although they arose in different contexts, all the protests were met with the same playbook of responses: repression, contempt and suspicion towards youth dismissed as irresponsible.

In Morocco, the #Gen212 movement, which originated on social media, denounced the high cost of living, police violence, muzzling of civil society and lack of opportunities. This mobilisation, which began digitally on platforms such as Discord, quickly spilled over from screens into concrete action taken in several cities across the country.

In Madagascar, young people took to the streets at the end of September in a climate of high pre-election tensions to demand real change before being violently repressed. In Nepal, thousands of young people occupied public spaces, demanding genuine democracy and an end to the corruption that is undermining the country.

In Europe, too, youth are mobilising against authoritarian excesses and persistent inequalities. In Italy, France, and Spain, young people are taking to the streets to protest gender-based violence, unpopular reforms and police repression and to demand recognition of their political rights.

Although the contexts are very different, these mobilisations share the same goal of refusing injustice and demanding that marginalised voices be heard.

These movements are often treated as fleeting emotional outbursts, even though they express structured political demands for social justice, freedom, economic security, access to dignity and participation.

Yet the responses by governments have been heading in a totally different direction towards increased repression. Young protesters are being monitored, arrested, stigmatised and sometimes accused of treason or of being manipulated by foreign powers.