Youth protests on October 31st: Who is “Gen Z rules” and what do they want?

Can we just watch a new social movement emerge? Since last week, the number of participants announced for the protests under the motto “Gen Z regulates”, which are planned for next Saturday in 24 cities nationwide, has been exploding. Last Wednesday there were barely 10,000, but on Tuesday of this week there were already over 140,000.

On the website with a squirrel as a logo, those interested can announce their participation in the demo in their respective city and heat up the competition: Where are more people taking to the streets?

Stuttgart and Cologne currently top the list with around 12,000 announced participants each. But thousands of people also want to take part in the protests in Hamburg, Frankfurt (Main) and Berlin. Although the commitment is non-binding, “Gen Z Settles” has obviously touched a nerve when they write: “We are young people who no longer want to watch how our future is decided without us being heard.”

Has the spark of student protests spread from other European countries? Will Germany experience a “Fridays for Future” moment next Saturday? And who is behind it?

Call to Akram Selo, who says he is 18 and has a high school diploma. He was the first to speak to the press on behalf of the organization. His name is in the imprint of the website, the address has changed several times, first in southern Germany and now in Switzerland. You have to understand that, he says. “We are young people and we want to protect our privacy somewhere and also protect ourselves from people who might not celebrate our movement that much.”

He set up the website, he says – also with the help of AI. They didn't expect so many people to sign up. “We hoped so, of course, because we know that a lot of young people feel the same way as we do, that they feel neglected and are afraid for their future.”

By “we” he means the organizing team, which currently consists of around 30 people; he is the youngest. They are between 18 and 28 years old, go to school, study or work, live in different cities and only met through social media. “We didn’t know each other before, but we all have the same problem,” says Selo. They took the slogan from social media, where it was already circulating.

In terms of content, “Gen Z regulates” opens up a wide range. The initiative opposes cuts in education spending, compulsory military service and rising costs of living, “while large companies continue to profit and billions flow into armaments.” She also calls for consistent climate protection and advocates against the expansion of state surveillance. “Wherever we look, we see crises and hardly any prospects for ourselves,” says the website. Selo cannot say which topic is most important. “We want a future in which we young people have a place and that’s why everyone is important.”

Their protest should be peaceful, he emphasized this several times on the phone. This is also stated in the initiative's statement: “We are against all forms of violence” and: “Violence against people or things contradicts everything we stand for.” Selo explains why they decided to make this statement before the protest: "Because we had the experience that the media accused us of rioting and that we want to do it like in France, so we had to distance ourselves because we don't want to be accused of anything."

So far it doesn't seem as if there are established actors from the left-wing or left-wing radical scene or powerful donors from non-governmental organizations behind the organizing team of “Gen Z regulates”. It gives the impression of a small group that has just come together, picked up a mood and started something. But only 5 of the 24 demos that are scheduled to start in parallel at 2 p.m. are being supervised by the initiative itself. The team is still looking for organizers and folders for the other cities in an official Telegram group.

Something is growing quite quickly and somewhat organically here - which not everyone involved is happy about. In the short time of its existence, the group has already lost a prominent spokesman. The student and influencer Gianni Matheja, who makes university content on Instagram as “giannistudiert”, gave up his role as press spokesman after just one day. He justified this on Instagram by saying that he sees “a common peaceful framework […] no longer sufficiently secured” because different groups come together under the name “Gen Z regulates” whose ideas about the goals and forms of protest differ.

The Federal Student Conference also distances itself from the protests. In a press release, the representation writes that it supports the initiative's demands, but considers the organizational structures to be opaque. Although “Gen Z regulates” explicitly distances itself from violence, the conference writes: “Violence and calls for violence distract from the actual problems in the education system.”

Selo says that they not only distance themselves from violence, but also distance themselves “from both right-wing extremism and left-wing extremism”. “I can say with a clear conscience and complete confidence that this is not true, that we have been infiltrated or that there are extremists in the organizing team.” They also do not want to associate themselves with any organization or political party.

But it's not that easy to differentiate yourself from established political actors, especially from radical left-wing, Marxist-Leninist and anti-imperialist circles. No wonder, since groups from exactly these circles have been supporting protests against conscription for months.

There are reports from various cities that cadre groups such as the Communist Construction are involved in the organization. The first Instagram post from the Berlin account of “Gen Z regulates” is a co-posting with the Neukölln youth organization of the Left Party. At a networking meeting for school strikes against compulsory military service in Berlin last week, there was a flag hanging with the inscription “Gen Z will take care of it – Berlin”. The flag also flew during a school blockade at the Andreas High School in Friedrichshain. A school blockade on Monday in Leipzig also ran under the banner of “Gen Z regulates” and was prominently spread through their channels – established left-wing actors were also involved here.

These overlaps do not indicate an impending escalation of violence at the demonstrations on Saturday. The protests against compulsory military service have so far been entirely peaceful. And yet the headwind, yes, the scaremongering is already huge. Even before the first protest action, politicians are running wild with predictions of excessive violence, sometimes in a racist manner, and threats to take tough action against it. There are repeated warnings about French conditions.

The Union faction's domestic policy spokesman, Alexander Throm, tells the Handelsblatt about a hijacking by left-wing extremist and criminal forces from the migrant milieu. Baden-Württemberg's Interior Minister Manuel Hagel, also a CDU, wants to strike back "with all the rigor of the rule of law." The CDU municipal council group in Stuttgart is calling for a ban on gatherings to be examined.

If that doesn't work, the CDU youth organization in Berlin-Mitte has the idea of ​​calling in the Bundeswehr. She writes that Paris has shown what “the haters of the free, democratic order” can do. On Instagram they post an AI-generated photo of children with school bags at the Brandenburg Gate, with soldiers in front of them wearing bulletproof vests and combat helmets.

The police are also taking part in the campaign against the youth protests. The federal executive of the police union, Jochen Kopelke (SPD), tells Bild that “riot migrants” who are “in the mood for violence against the police” are mingling with peaceful students. They should “expect no mercy” from the police.

The initiative, however, receives support from the youth organizations of the Greens and the Left. The Federal Association of Left-wing Youth criticizes the prejudgment of the protests that were planned as peaceful. “As left-wing youth ['solid], we welcome the fact that young people are taking to the streets against the austerity policies of the Merz-Klingbeil government.”

The Green Youth also supports the protests. Their spokesman Luis Bobga calls it “right and important that our generation now puts pressure on the streets.” Both party organizations are calling for the International Youth Strike Day, which is planned for November 20th in various European countries.

Akram Selo wants “peaceful protest” for October 31st. What does he mean by that? “That we only do what the Basic Law allows.”