Why Instagram has become Gen Z’s front page for breaking news

Social media has become one of the most powerful tools of the 21st century, and platforms like Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) are proving exactly why. Case in point, the ongoing protests in New Delhi. Thousands gather at Jantar Mantar to join the Cockroach Janta Party and demand the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET paper leak, protest the detention of Sonam Wangchuk amid his hunger strike, and speak out against the police response to demonstrators. Those who can’t make it to New Delhi, or to solidarity protests across the country, are witnessing it all through their Instagram feeds.

Now, unless you’ve been living under a rock with no access to the internet, you’ve probably seen it too. Countless videos, Instagram Stories, and livestreams have flooded our feeds, offering a real-time window into what’s unfolding on the ground. The most compelling part? Much of it is being recorded by the very people standing in the middle of it all. Students, independent journalists, and ordinary citizens filming from within the crowds, getting pushed around, (some) narrowly evading police brutality and dodging tear gas, taking a moment, however brief, to show the rest of us exactly what’s happening.

And all of that content, flooding onto your For You Page, making your Instagram feed more than just the place to doomscroll anymore. For the youth of this country, Instagram is the front page for breaking news. Because while headlines might take their sweet time getting to us, Instagram has already documented the reality for us. 

That isn’t just an observation from behind a screen. Jessica Goel, senior producer at MO of Everything, saw it first-hand while covering the protests in Delhi. “What struck me most was that wherever you looked, Gen Z was holding up a phone. They weren’t just documenting the protest; they were actively shaping its memory in real time. They were livestreaming, recording interactions with the police, interviewing each other, making memes, and posting updates as events unfolded,” she says.

Goel believes that’s because, for many young people, social media is no longer separate from activism; it’s part of it. “For many of them, social media isn’t secondary to the protest; it’s an extension of it. A large section of Gen Z no longer relies on national television as its primary source of news. They consume information through creators, independent journalists, and platforms where they can interact, ask questions, and participate rather than just watch.”

She points to the Cockroach Janta Party as an example of how digital communities are changing political mobilisation. “The Cockroach Janta Party’s following is a good example of that shift. Its ability to mobilise people wasn’t built through traditional political structures but through social media communities. Even people who couldn’t be physically present became participants online, while a single call from the organisers brought people from different cities onto Delhi’s streets. It shows that for this generation, digital participation and physical mobilisation reinforce each other rather than compete with each other.”

The Instagram generation of protest 

Millennials and Gen Z grew up chronically online. For years, they were mocked for spending too much time on their phones, accused of confusing social media with the real world. The irony? Today, the two are more intertwined than ever. The same platforms once dismissed as distractions have become tools to organise, document history, and demand accountability. That’s where the real power lies.

But the ongoing protest in New Delhi is not the first one.

In the last few years itself, we have watched Gen Z take to the streets across the globe to fight for what they believe in. Yes, the same generation once dismissed as lazy, aimless, and unaware has emerged as the voice behind some of the world’s biggest protest movements, challenging the very leaders who so often accuse them of being disengaged. 

In July 2024, students in Bangladesh took to the streets over the country’s controversial public-sector job quota system, while Nepal’s youth mobilised against corruption and political instability during what was called the Gen Z revolution between 2025 and 2026. And let’s not forget the students across the United States leading pro-Palestinian protests. 

Different countries. Different causes. But the same generation showing up, refusing to accept the status quo and demanding answers from those in power. And across these movements, Instagram and social media have become the unofficial archive, documenting police responses, coordinating action, and ensuring what happened on the ground doesn't disappear once the crowds disperse. While AI has blurred the line between fact and fiction, the shaky Stories, blurry livestreams, and hurried videos captured as moments unfold remain some of the closest things we have to witnessing history in real time.

Documenting protests to protect democracy 

When people feel the need to record every interaction with authorities and upload evidence before it can disappear, it raises difficult questions about the state of our democracy. A democracy relies on transparency, but transparency shouldn’t depend on whether someone remembered to press record. Yet smartphones have become exactly that: eyewitnesses that capture what official statements often cannot, preserving a public record of events from hundreds of different perspectives. And while AI has made it harder to separate fact from fiction, genuine eyewitness footage from hundreds of different angles makes it far more difficult for the truth to be erased or ignored.

Is freedom of speech and the right to protest becoming conditional?

Every time a peaceful protest is met with barricades, detentions, or force, the question gets a little harder to ignore. If exercising a constitutional right increasingly comes with conditions, consequences, or the fear of retaliation, what does that mean for democracy? More importantly, what does it say when young people feel the need to hit "Go Live" before they raise a placard? Somewhere along the way, documenting a protest stopped being about creating content and started becoming about creating evidence. And perhaps that's the most telling reflection of where we are today.

Lead image: Getty Images

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