- Sputnik International, 1920, 20.12.2022
Events That Shaped Year 2022
From geopolitical milestones to viral trends – here is everything we followed, analyzed, and discussed in the year 2022 as the world braces for whatever 2023 has up its sleeve.

Anger Over COVID-19 Restrictions & Cost Of Living Crunch: What Fueled Mass Protests in 2022?

© AFP 2023 / GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELTProtesters hold placards and French flgas during a demonstration against the health pass and Covid-19 vaccines, on Trocadero plaza in Paris, on January 15 2022.
Protesters hold placards and French flgas during a demonstration against the health pass and Covid-19 vaccines, on Trocadero plaza in Paris, on January 15 2022.  - Sputnik International, 1920, 29.12.2022
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Anger among citizens drove antigovernment protests globally to a new high in 2022, data from the Carnegie Endowment’s Global Protest Tracker revealed. The year started off with frustration over continuing COVID-19 restrictions and evolved into more economically and politically-driven demonstrations.
The year 2022 had more than its share of upheavals that affected the lives of people across the globe, forcing them to vent their public discontent. From economic problems, such as surging inflation and the cost of living crisis, to restrictions imposed over the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, government decisions triggered waves of demonstrations across countries and continents. Let's take a look at some of the mass protests of 2022.

Anti-Vaccine Protests

At the start of 2022, protesters took to the streets across Western Europe in protest against COVID-19 vaccine requirements, with more than 100,000 people rallying in France alone to oppose what they called government plans to restrict the rights of the unvaccinated. In the French capital, Paris, protesters – many of them unmasked – carried placards that read “Truth,” “Freedom,” and “No to vaccine pass.” Some also took aim at President Emmanuel Macron, who had caused an uproar by quipping he wanted to “p*** off” the unvaccinated by making their lives so complicated they would end up getting the jab.
The protesters retorted by adopting his language, chanting “We’ll p*** you off.”
An image shot in Paris off a television screen shows French President Emmanuel Macron speaking on the situation in Afghanistan, from the Fort de Bregancon presidential summer residence at Bormes-les-Mimosas, southeastern France on August 16, 2021 - Sputnik International, 1920, 09.01.2022
Anti-Vax Protesters Vow to 'Piss Off' Macron After French Lawmakers Approve COVID-19 'Vaccine Pass'

Canada's 'Freedom Convoy'

Similar protests rocked other countries. In Canada, authorities introduced vaccination passport requirements in mid-January for truckers who cross the border with the United States, after the had latter introduced the same rules.
Tensions spiraled by February, as dozens of truckers gridlocked Canada’s capital, Ottawa, for weeks as part of a series of protests against the restrictions, with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government forced to invoke extraordinary measures to disperse the “Freedom Convoy.”
Incidentally, French drivers, inspired by the protests in Canada, moved to Paris to hold a rally against COVID-19 restrictions in February. More than 7,000 police officers and gendarmes were mobilized in Paris to prevent the blocking of roads in the city by the Freedom Convoy, with police reporting that 500 vehicles were stopped near the capital and another 300 vehicles inside the city.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau testifies before the Public Order Emergency Commission public inquiry on November 25, 2022, in Ottawa. - Sputnik International, 1920, 26.11.2022
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China Lockdown Protests

The Chinese government was forced to develop a new package of 10 measures aimed at easing its controversial zero-tolerance policy for COVID-19, which had triggered mass protests across the country towards the end of the year.
Acting upon numerous local COVID-19 outbreaks in the country in the fall, the Chinese authorities opted to introduce partial lockdowns in some areas, while also forcing residents to undergo PCR testing on a daily basis. Starting from November 24, restrictive measures were tightened in Beijing, Shanghai, and several other large cities. But exhausted residents responded by spilling their public discontent over the restrictions out on the streets. Protesters demanded an end to blanket lockdowns and daily testing.
The Chinese government has since ordered all regions to select epidemiological risk zones more carefully, designating as such only those buildings, apartments, floors, and households where there are confirmed cases of COVID-19, according to the State Council. Furthermore, only those who work or temporarily stay in a high-risk area will have to undergo PCR testing, with PCR tests and electronic "health codes" no longer needed for traveling from one region of China to another.
People wearing face masks stand in line for COVID-19 tests at a coronavirus testing site in Beijing, Wednesday, July 6, 2022. Residents of parts of Shanghai and Beijing have been ordered to undergo further rounds of COVID-19 testing following the discovery of new cases in the two cities, while additional restrictions remain in place in Hong Kong, Macao and other cities. - Sputnik International, 1920, 28.12.2022
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China to Lift COVID-19 Testing Requirement for Travelers From January 8: Customs Service

Sri Lanka Turmoil

In other countries, violent protests erupted in 2022 over economic issues that had hugely impacted their lives. Unrest erupted in Sri Lanka over the government’s mishandling of the island nation's economy. It rocked the country from March-end and peaked in May 2022.
Protesters blamed then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and members of his family, who occupied key Cabinet seats, for the country's woes. Thousands of protesters stormed the President's House in July, denouncing the financial mismanagement that had resulted in a foreign exchange crisis in the nation of 22 million people. People had been facing food and fuel shortages for months due to a crippling shortage of foreign currency reserves which left the import-reliant economy unable to pay for food, fuel, and other essentials. Gotabaya Rajapaksa was forced to resign from the presidency and flee abroad in the wake of unprecedented public unrest. On July 20, the parliament elected Ranil Wickremesinghe as president.
Ranil Wickremesinghe  - Sputnik International, 1920, 21.07.2022
Wickremesinghe Takes Oath as Sri Lanka's President as Protesters Call to 'Set Parliament on Fire'

UK Cost of Living Woes

In the United Kingdom, a country whose politics was rocked by turmoil in 2022, with three prime ministers taking over one after the other in just two months, protests were manifold throughout the year.
In February, from Plymouth to Glasgow, thousands of people took to the streets to protest against the cost of living crisis, climate change, and to show support for rail workers striking over pay. Organized by the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) and the People's Assembly, the demonstrations came after regulator Ofgem announced a 54 percent increase in the energy price cap in April.
© AFP 2023 / ANDY BUCHANANDemonstrators hold up placards as they take part in a march organised by The People's Assembly to demand action to tackle the cost of living crisis in Glasgow, Scotland on February 12, 2022.
Demonstrators hold up placards as they take part in a march organised by The People's Assembly to demand action to tackle the cost of living crisis in Glasgow, Scotland on February 12, 2022. - Sputnik International, 1920, 29.12.2022
Demonstrators hold up placards as they take part in a march organised by The People's Assembly to demand action to tackle the cost of living crisis in Glasgow, Scotland on February 12, 2022.
With inflation running rampant in 2022, the UK witnessed a severe increase in the prices of food and energy, and the country went on to see many more protests as the bitter squeeze on household budgets increased. Anger grew over the summer months, and spiraled ahead of winter. Britain’s economic woes resulted in several strikes across the country, with walkouts by rail workers, nurses, emergency responders, and postal workers. Disgruntled people demanded wages that would allow them to survive amid the ongoing cost of living crisis.
Striking ambulance staff outside Waterloo ambulance station in central London on December 21, 2022 - Sputnik International, 1920, 21.12.2022
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Climate protesters were not to be outdone, with activists carrying out blockades of several oil terminals in the country and even staging a lengthy protest in the capital in September and October. Just Stop Oil protesters demanded that the UK government halt all new oil and gas licenses.
Activists from the 'Just Stop Oil' campaign group cover 'The Hay Wain' painting by English artist John Constable, in a mock 'undated' version including roads and aircraft, before glueing their hands to the frame in protest against the use of fossil fuels, in the National Gallery in London on July 4, 2022. - Sputnik International, 1920, 29.10.2022
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Who are the Just Stop Oil Protesters & Why Do They Attack Art?

French Industrial Action

France has also been gripped by a widespread protest movement amid the ongoing cost of living crisis. Public transport workers and other staff in Paris and across the Ile-de-France region took industrial action over wages. The social protest began with the enterprises of the transnational energy groups TotalEnergies and Esso-ExxonMobil on September 27. The staff of these companies demanded a salary increase of at least 10 percent against the background of galloping inflation.
Mass Protests in France as Europe Plunges Into Economic Despair  - Sputnik International, 1920, 19.10.2022
Fault Lines
Mass Protests in France as Europe Plunges Into Economic Despair
Meanwhile, cost of living protests in Spain mirrored those happening across France, Belgium, Germany, and other countries. The Spanish government has introduced two extraordinary inflation-busting packages over the past few months to subsidize petrol and public transport, while also imposing windfall taxes on the excess profits of energy companies and banks.

Protests Against Anti-Russia Sanctions

As economic woes fueled, in large part, by restrictions slapped on Russia over its special military operation in Ukraine increasingly piled up across the continent, countries like the Czech Republic, Germany, and Moldova witnessed protests calling on their governments to change their pro-Ukraine posture and decrying it as responsible for driving up fuel prices and therefore exacerbating inflation.
People Hit the Streets of Germany's Zwickau To Protest Against Energy Prices, Russian Sanctions - Sputnik International, 1920, 02.10.2022
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People Hit the Streets of Germany's Zwickau To Protest Against Energy Prices, Russian Sanctions

Unrest in Kazakhstan

Surging gas prices that followed the government's new liquefied gas pricing policy triggered mass protests in several Kazakh cities at the outset of the year. Clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement officers occurred between late January 4 and early January 5 in the city of Almaty.
Prices skyrocketed, initially rising from around 60 tenges to 80 and then up to 120 tenges (around $3) per liter, prompting residents of Aktau and Zhanaozen in the southwestern Mangystau region to take to the streets. Shortly after the protests erupted, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev ordered a commission to resolve the issue, with the government promising to lower gas prices. But the protests spread from the southwest to large cities, including the capital Astana. A state of emergency was introduced across all of Kazakhstan.
Nearly 10,000 were arrested in the Central Asian state in the wake of the unrest, with an investigation indicating that well-coordinated armed groups trained abroad had hijacked the protests over soaring fuel prices.
A view shows a burning police car during a protest against LPG cost rise following the Kazakh authorities' decision to lift price caps on liquefied petroleum gas in Almaty, Kazakhstan January 5, 2022 - Sputnik International, 1920, 05.01.2022
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What's Going on in Kazakhstan and What Are Protesters Demanding?

Pakistan Political Drama

Pakistan braced for political drama when the country's ex-PM Imran Khan, who was ousted from power in a no-confidence motion in April by Shehbaz Sharif, then leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, began to hold large-scale public gatherings. He accused the US of instigating the no-confidence motion over Washington's unhappiness with Islamabad’s “independent foreign policy” under the previous PTI government. The cricketer-turned-politician had been calling for the dissolution of the country's parliament and early elections, and announced a "long march" organized by Pakistani opposition party Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), led by him.
Khan sustained bullet injuries during an alleged assassination attempt on November 3, days after kicking off the march to Islamabad in the last week of October. However, thousands of Khan’s supporters resumed the march without their leader on November 10.
Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan, center, waves to his supporters at a rally in Lahore, Pakistan, Saturday, Oct. 29 2022 - Sputnik International, 1920, 02.11.2022
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Protest March Led by Pakistan's Ex-Prime Minister Plans to Reach Capital by November 11

Iran Protests

Iranian authorities confirmed earlier in the month that over 200 people, including police officers, security forces personnel, civilians killed in terrorist attacks, and “innocent people who fell victim to plots of anti-revolutionary groups,” had died in violence over the two-and-a-half months of protests since September.
The unrest swept across many major cities following the September 16 death of 22-year-old woman Mahsa Amini in a hospital in Tehran. The woman suffered a heart attack and fell into a coma after an argument with a minder at a morality police facility over alleged improper wearing of the hijab. The next day after her death, rumors spread that she had been beaten into a coma by police. This ignited protests in the capital, which quickly spread to other major population centers. However, medical records and security camera footage released by the government later showed that Amini did not appear to have suffered any physical mistreatment at the hands of the authorities.
Iran blamed the protests on outside forces, including American and Israeli intelligence. It also slammed a “political” “fact-finding mission” proposed by Western nations at the UN to investigate “human rights abuses” related to Tehran’s handling of the unrest.
In this photo taken by an individual not employed by the Associated Press and obtained by the AP outside Iran, Iranians protests the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after she was detained by the morality police last month, in Tehran, Thursday, Oct. 27, 2022. - Sputnik International, 1920, 05.12.2022
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Iran Dismisses Western ‘Human Rights’ Complaints Over Protests, Points to West’s History of Violence

US Irate Over Roe v. Wade

The US saw mass protests over what was claimed by some to be an “attack on reproductive health care,” after, first, a leaked draft opinion by Supreme Court justices hinted at a looming reversal of the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling. Protests and outcry began in early May, with demonstrators rallying in huge numbers outside the apex court on Capitol Hill, and even marching to the homes of some of the six conservative justices.
On June 24, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, a nearly 50-year precedent that had protected Americans' access to abortion as a federal right. Since the ruling, numerous pre-Roe laws banning abortion immediately reactivated, and several states rushed to pass new restrictive bills. At least 14 states have banned abortion.
Abortion-rights activists gather for a protest following the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, at Union Square, Saturday, June 25, 2022, in New York. - Sputnik International, 1920, 26.06.2022
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US Gun Violence Protests

While inflation, cost of living, and other hardships plaguing Europe have also made themselves felt in the Unites States, the latter has also reeled from a blight such as a rise in gun violence. Thousands rallied demanding action and urging gun control legislation in June, pointing to the Uvalde elementary school shooting in Texas that killed 19 schoolchildren and two teachers, a shooting that left 10 Black people dead in a Buffalo supermarket, the Parkland tragedy, and hundreds of other mass shootings across the country.
In Washington, the demonstrations were organized by March for Our Lives.
In a vote that marked the first time in over 20 years that Congress passed a measure to outlaw the transfer, sale, or possession of assault weapons, the US House of Representatives passed a bill in late July containing language to "ban the sale, import, manufacture or transfer of certain semi-automatic weapons."
The U.S. Capitol building is seen before sunrise on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, March. 21, 2022. - Sputnik International, 1920, 29.07.2022
US House Approves Ban on Semi-Automatic Weapons After Series of Mass Shootings
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