The Graphic Truth: Fake Follow The Leader

February 20, 2018

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The Graphic Truth: Fake Follow The Leader

Ari Winkleman

A recent New York Times expose uncovered the vast, and lucrative, market for the creation of “fake followers” on Twitter and other social media platforms. Well, we decided to take a look at the Twitter accounts of some of the world’s most “followed” leaders to see how many of their followers are real and fake. Alf mabrouk to Saudi Arabia’s King Salman for being the realest on Twitter! Full disclosure, I am almost positive that more than 100% of my 2,500 followers are extremely very real.

What We’re Watching: Budapest Pride parade, Rwanda and DRC peace agreement, SCOTUS ruling on Trump’s executive power

A woman lights a cigarette placed in a placard depicting Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, during a demonstration, after the Hungarian parliament passed a law that bans LGBTQ+ communities from holding the annual Pride march and allows a broader constraint on freedom of assembly, in Budapest, Hungary, on March 25, 2025.

REUTERS/Marton Monus

Hungary’s capital will proceed with Saturday’s Pride parade celebrating the LGBTQ+ community, despite the rightwing national government’s recent ban on the event.

Where we get our news - and why it changes everything

American President Donald Trump's X Page is seen displayed on a smartphone with a Tiktok logo in the background

Avishek Das / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect

In August 1991, a handful of high-ranking Soviet officials launched a military coup to halt what they believed (correctly) was the steady disintegration of the Soviet Union. Their first step was to seize control of the flow of information across the USSR by ordering state television to begin broadcasting a Bolshoi Theatre production ofSwan Lake on a continuous loop until further notice.

The Graphic Truth: Fake Follow The Leader

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The Graphic Truth: Fake Follow The Leader

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More from GZERO Media

In this episode of Europe in :60, Carl Bildt discusses the outcomes of the NATO Summit and where Europe stands with the Israel-Iran conflict.

Hungary’s capital will proceed with Saturday’s Pride parade celebrating the LGBTQ+ community, despite the rightwing national government’s recent ban on the event.

GZEROMEDIA

Subscribe to GZERO Media's newsletter: Signal

Think you know what's going on around the world? Here's your chance to prove it.

Small businesses are more than just corner shops and local services. They’re a driving force of economic growth, making up 90% of all businesses globally. As the global middle class rapidly expands, new opportunities are emerging for entrepreneurs to launch and grow small businesses.

The two-day NATO summit at the Hague wrapped on Wednesday. The top line? At an event noticeably scripted to heap flattery on Donald Trump, alliance members agreed to the US president’s demand they boost military spending to 5% of GDP over the next decade.