Nepal’s Gen Z Protests Against Corruption
By: Daniella Gavalas
Generation Z, perhaps the most involved generation we have seen, has been making headlines in Southeast Asian countries, such as Nepal. Currently, Nepal’s Gen Z has been combating corruption through various protests. Footage of such protests have gone viral across popular social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram. As a result of the protests, about 70 people in Nepal have died, buildings have been burned, homes have been destroyed and politicians have faced physical violence (Wong, 2025). All of this has even led to the resignation of the prime minister, K.P. Sharma Oli (Saaliq & Shrestha, 2025). Prior to the uproar of protests beginning in Nepal, the government announced that it would ban certain social media platforms. The Nepali government justifies their actions as a solution to combating fake news and hate speech, but Nepalis see this as a gateway to silence free speech (Wong, 2025). Nepal is no stranger to corruption, but this announcement only added more anger from Nepalis. In fact, Think Tank Transparency International reported high corruption for Nepal in terms of Nepal's transparency score (Wong, 2025). Gen Z Nepalis are also angered about the nepo-kids (children of affluent people, especially children of politicians) that flaunt their lavish lifestyle while the rest of Nepal struggles. This further fueled the anger from Gen Z’s Nepal, because while nepo-kids do not face the struggles of wealth, the youth unemployment rate was at a shockingly high 20 percent as of 2024 (Saaliq & Shrestha, 2025).
Nepal’s Millennials vs. Nepal’s Gen Z
Gen Z is not just pushing for and making reforms, they’ve distinguished themselves from the previous generation: millennials. During the height of the millennial generation in Nepal, many millennials were in favor of ousting the monarchy which led to civil war for a decade. However, Narayan Adhikari, co-founder of anti-corruption group Accountability Lab, points out that “[Nepal’s millennials] ended up becoming part of the system and lost their moral ground” (Wong, 2025). However, Nepali Gen Z activist Aditya is optimistic that this time it will be different because, as she puts it, “we are continuously learning from the mistakes of our previous generation," and adds that "now in this generation, we do not follow anyone like a god."
Nepal’s Gen Z and the rest of Gen Z in Southeast Asia
We see a similar trend of citizens ridiculing politicians, and politicians' children in the Philippines and Indonesia. In fact, Aditya took inspiration from the demonstrations that have been happening in Indonesia (Wong, 2025). In Indonesia, there has been a major demand for anti-corruption through protests which has led to legislative reform. Moreover, recently, in the Philippines, a monsoon has struck the country and not only is there major flooding, it has left many to commute by kayaking and has led to an outbreak of leptospirosis from sewer rats. People from the Philippines have especially grown mad and disappointed at lawmakers and construction industries. In fact, “In 2013, lawmakers were accused of pocketing billions from their discretionary budgets for ghost projects” (Guinto & Simonette, 2025). Gen Z’s Southeast Asia believes that their respective countries can be better. Their governments have the potential to help people more efficiently, but only if citizens fight against corruption and remain determined to receive reformation. Gen Z seems to be a generation to not be reckoned with – they want change and are determined to combat the corruption they witness. Gen Z’s protests in Southeast Asia against corruption have set an example across the globe to promote progress and reformation because Gen Z is not only determined to better the lives of this current generation but the ones after them.
Citations
Wong, Tessa “The Gen Z Uprising in Asia Shows Social Media is a Double-edged Sword” BBC. bbc.com. 24 September 2025. (Wong, 2025). https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn4ljv39em7o
Guinto & Simonette “Fury Over Corruption and ‘nepo-babies’ as Floods Paralyse Philippines” BBC. bbc.com. 17 September 2025. (Guinto & Simonette, 2025). https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czrp7xkd2gpo
Saaliq & Shrestha “Anger over corruption and nepotism fuel Nepal’s deadly protests over social media ban”. AP News. apnews.com. 9 September 2025. (Saaliq & Shrestha, 2025). https://apnews.com/article/nepal-genz-protest-social-media-ban-9dc6ecd2c089141cc8c36af5949cfc09