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On the 27th of September, a movement of mass protests began across Morocco, marking yet another of the unprecedented set of protests in the Global South against unresponsive governments. This movement, unlike any the country has seen before, was well organised, diffuse, detached from traditional institutions of politics, and led entirely by the youth.
Ordinarily depicted as a largely apolitical generation, movements such as this disprove the notion that the younger generation is not interested in political engagement; rather global digitalisation has created new opportunities for participation. In this case, activism in the 21st century is being redefined.
Context: why is there discontent in Morocco?
Morocco was unique in its ability to escape from the Arab spring in 2011 relatively unscathed. While its neighbours experienced dramatic regime change and uprooted long-term leaders, Morocco’s movement focussed on constitutional reform, intended to ease social inequalities and modernise the country, and its government promised to fulfil these aims. Yet almost 15 years on from this, many of the same grievances are still central in the lives of the Moroccan citizenry, unchanged through the previous reforms. These mainly focus on unemployment, social justice, and access to equal services.
The provision of healthcare, for instance, is a focus of complaint, with the World Health Organisation estimating less than 8 doctors to 100,000 people across Morocco, far from the suggested average of 25. Youth unemployment also remains rife in Morocco with over 35% of young people unemployed. Yet, the government has pledged $5bn towards preparations to host the 2030 FIFA World Cup.
The catalyst
This all came to a head on the 14th September, 2025, following the deaths of 8 women during and after childbirth in a single hospital in Agadir (a major city in southwestern Morocco). These deaths marked a pattern of institutional failure in Morocco, with overworked and underfunded systems incapable of answering the needs of citizens. This time, the youth had a response.
On the 18th of September, the GenZ 212 movement emerged on Discord. At the end of day one, it had over 1,000 members; within weeks it had a quarter of a million members.
By the 10th of October, following two weeks of protest, the movement paused to observe the King’s opening of Parliament, hoping for acknowledgement and promises of reform. Though the King highlighted the need for improvement in public services and mitigation of rife unemployment, he made no reference to the movement or their aims. Soon after, the government announced a 2026 budget, with a greater prioritisation of public services, promising 10% of GDP to health and education. These reforms, the most significant seen since the Arab Spring, fall far short of the protestors’ demands, leaving their central grievance unresolved: the government’s persisting lack of political accountability.
What makes the movement unique?
The movement names itself “GenZ 212”, referencing the country’s international telephone dialling code (+212). At its heart, it is a digital movement: a dispersed group of youth collecting and organising online, translated into physical protests. Utilising digital platforms, the movement is able to exist beyond traditional political structures that previous movements have been organised around. In doing so, GenZ 212 sets itself apart from the other movements Morocco has experienced, normally structured around political events. This autonomy enables the movement to organise flexibly, horizontally, and democratically.
Organising their protests online gives the movement a significant advantage, creating a movement that is widespread, decentralised and yet simultaneous. Following the establishment of the movement online, concurrent mobilisations occurred across Morocco’s major cities, as well as more rural areas. Members are able to join the channel for their local area with a central organisational system online, providing them with information on arranged protests to coordinate action, as well as the opportunity to communicate with others in the movement. At the same time, though, they can interact with the wider structure itself.
Rather than collecting around a figurehead, as part of its non-hierarchical nature, GenZ 212 has no leader. Indeed, when public figures or politicians claim to have interacted with the leaders of the movement, Gen Z 212 publicly rejects this statement, reasserting their lack of central leader. Instead, the movement organises itself around its ideals. As such, it does not involve a top-down structure – members themselves are involved in deliberation and decisions. Publishing its aims first on the Discord server, it was not until members’ feedback and opinions had been taken into account that the movement broadcasted its aims publicly. The digital nature of this movement makes it uniquely local, national, and global, simultaneously. Morocco echoes the calls of social justice and responsive politics from youth movements in nations such as Nepal, Madagascar, and Peru while also focussing on national issues, chanting slogans including “stadiums are here, but where are the hospitals”.
Where now?
Leveraging online platforms as a new arena for political organisation, GenZ 212 and its neighbouring movements across the globe have demonstrated that rather than representing an apolitical generation, the youth have changed what it means to engage in politics. Youth engagement in politics is no longer marked by traditional institutions, particularly under those structures that have remained unresponsive. This process has redefined what it means to be an active citizen in an age of global digitalisation.
Those tools of repression historically used by governments to extinguish protests, though still threatening to these movements and its individual members, are no longer able to get to the heart of the movement itself. Fundamentally, this is because the movement itself exists beyond these physical protests. It takes a digital form that continues to collect and grow even if the government attempts to shut down individual protests. In many cases, this too just throws fuel on the fire.
The movement in Morocco has slowed down for now, but with its grievances still needing addressing, the youth still have motivations for future mobilisation. The movement’s greatest success, though, may not be in generating national change, but in demonstrating that the youth has not abandoned politics. This has fundamentally altered what political engagement looks like, moving on to digital spaces where participation is free, accessible, and equal – but most importantly, where it is global. Several questions still remain of this kind of activism, including how these movements can sustain themselves, but one thing is for sure: digital activism has given the global youth a political voice.
Edited by Isabel Whitburn
Image: Mounir Neddi, “Generation Z protests in Rabat in front of Parliament“, 2025 // CC BY-SA 4.0
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