Will Gen Z protests around the world continue in 2026?
2025 was the year of youth-led protests across the world. What’s next for the movement?
The Global Story · BBC World Service
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Show Notes
Throughout 2025, a massive youth protest movement took shape across the world. From Bangladesh, to Nepal, to Morocco, to Kenya, to the Maldives, young people were taking to the streets to demand, among other things, job security, improved standards of living, and the toppling of corrupt regimes. And in a number of cases their ambitious demands were met.
Today we speak to the BBC's social media investigations correspondent, Marianna Spring, about how social media helped spark a movement that transcended borders, and where the so-called, 'Gen Z Revolution' goes from here.
Producers: Xandra Ellin and Cat Farnsworth
Sound engineer: Travis Evans
Senior news editor: China Collins
(Photo: A protester carries a banner featuring a Malagasy version of the logo of the popular Japanese manga One Piece, during a nationwide youth-led demonstration over frequent power outages and water shortages, in Antananarivo, Madagascar, October 13, 2025. Credit: Siphiwe Sibeko/ Reuters)