Viral memes, AI-generated videos, and fast-moving hashtags are now core strategies in political activism for Gen Z—the cohort born between 1996 and 2010, as described by Seemiller and Grace in “Generation Z: A Century in the Making”.
Within just one month—September 2025—young people worldwide rallied for change, organizing public protests and online campaigns in Nepal, Indonesia, Morocco, Madagascar, Tunisia, the Philippines, Egypt, Ghana, Malaysia, Sudan, Peru… reported by major media outlets like BBC News and CNN.
How has social media been utilized and circulated in protests across Southeast Asia? Moreover, has this information successfully reached Hong Kong, a neighboring region to Southeast Asia?
1. Social Media in Nepal
The social media-led movement began with the posting of images of lavish lifestyles of politicians’ children. The hashtag #NepoKids went viral on social media in Nepal much earlier.
Fueled by high youth unemployment, corruption, and political frustration, demonstrations quickly spread nationwide this September as reported by CNN World News . Gen Z protesters took to the streets of the capital Kathmandu after the government imposed bans on social media platforms – Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp.
According to Reuters, police deployed live ammunition, water cannons, and tear gas against the protestors. The violent crashes with the police brought the total death toll to 72 and at least 2,113 people had been injured on Sept. 14.
BBC Asia Digital Reporter Tessa Wong reported on how Nepo youth used TikTok, AI platforms to make social media clips about “nepo kids” and corruption to rally support.
2. Social Media in Philippines
When Typhoon Ragasa swept over Asia this September, a massive corruption scandal broke out in the Philippines, involving billions of pesos lost to “ghost” (fake) flood control projects linked to political elites, reported by Aljazeera. Outrage quickly grew on social media, especially among Gen Z and students, who organized hashtag campaign like #LifestyleCheck on Reddit, Tessa Wong observed.
It is reported that nearly 50,000 people rallied in Manila on Sept. 21, with more joining in other cities across the country and majority of them are young Filipinos. Over 200 people were arrested during confrontations with police.
3. Social Media in Indonesia
Prior to this September, Tessa Wong observed that young people circulated hashtags like #IndonesiaGelap (“Dark Indonesia”) and #KaburAjaDulu (“Just Run Away First”), protesting against the corruption in Indonesia.
As NBC news reports, sharing the same furies over lack of jobs, corruption, and economic inequality, Indonesian Gen Z protests erupted over the housing allowance privileges of parliament members and elites. After a police vehicle hit and killed a rideshare motorbike driver during a protest, the clash between police and protesters turned deadly. On Sept. 1, the government’s media reported that 3,195 people were arrested.
The live feature of TikTok was temporarily suspended by the government during the protest.
Hong Kong GenZ’s Reaction
Li Man Yee, a 22-year-old Hong Kong local and recent graduate in Government and Public Administration from CUHK, shared her observations on the local online discussions surrounding Gen Z-led protests in Southeast Asia.
“For those who have long been engaged in politics, like my classmates, Instagram is a common platform where they share posts about protests they come across,” Li explained, noting that their news sources are predominantly in English. “Through these, I’ve learned about popular trends like Nepal selecting its president through Discord, or witnessed reports of violent clashes between police and protesters,” she added.
Li observed that most young people in Hong Kong are particularly active on Instagram and Threads. “Generally, there seems to be limited discussion about Southeast Asian protests within Hong Kong,” she said. However, she mentioned encountering some Chinese-language reports on Threads.
“From my daily experience, Gen Z protests in Southeast Asia generally do not attract much attention from youth in Hong Kong on social media,” Li concluded.
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