
The Pretty Good Podcast Youth Series spotlights youth advocates leading initiatives related to digital rights across the Asia-Pacific. In this series, young changemakers interview fellow youth to share best practices, exchange ideas, and draw inspiration from each other’s efforts in advocating for internet freedom and safeguarding digital spaces. Through candid conversations, we explore the innovative ways young people are tackling pressing digital rights issues and shaping a better future for the region.
In this episode, Afifah Fitriyani Oceanto, a student from Indonesia’s Jentera Law School, sits down with Shoeb Abdullah and Subinoy Mustofi Eron, co-founders of Activate Rights, to discuss the mass protests in Bangladesh calling for reform of the government’s job quota system. Initially sparked by students, the movement quickly spread nationwide, drawing in civilians from all walks of life.
The government responded with violence and an internet shutdown in an attempt to stifle the protests. Despite this, the movement thrived through grassroots organising and decentralised leadership. Shoeb and Eron recount the brutality protesters faced, and how the shutdown shifted demands from job reform to broader systemic change.
Drawing parallels to the protests in Indonesia against a planned amendment to the Regional Elections Law—intended to lower the age limit for governor candidates, and seen as a move by President Joko Widodo to allow his second son to run for office and consolidate power within his family—this episode explores the power of solidarity, social media, and community in the fight for justice.
Learn more about the student protests in this article by Afifah Fitriyani Oceanto.