‍While the scale of Twitter’s influence on world events remains difficult to accurately measure, several trends have become unmistakable. The first is that leaders around the world increasingly follow other influential people and accounts on social media platforms.

While some of these users may follow to get followers on Twitter, others use it as a way to stay apprised of breaking news and official government statements. We’ve outlined the most-followed world leaders on Twitter below, with lists going back to 2020. Keep reading to learn more about which leaders have the most followers.

Barack Obama

US President Barack Obama is a leading player on the platform. Obama has been using the service since 2008, and at one point served as the most-followed American leader on Twitter. In his first term, Obama focused his efforts on winning the hearts and minds of the Muslim world, particularly the Middle East. During his second term, he was active on Twitter again, using the service to clarify his position on the Iraq War and to promote his memoir, which he published on the service in 2011.

Joe Biden

President Joe Biden is one of the most-followed world leaders on Twitter. He and President Obama have a long-standing relationship, dating back to at least 2000 when Biden was Obama’s running mate. Since then, he has used the platform to engage in comedy and political advocacy.

Hillary Clinton

While former US president and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton have not actively used the platform, she has close ties to Twitter and frequently engages with the service, particularly on her account. One of her most frequently-used phrases is “got your email,” which she uses to communicate with her followers about various issues. All things considered, Clinton has a massive online following, numbering in the tens of millions.

Donald Trump

Like many other heads of state, United States president Donald Trump has a large online following. According to data from Twitter, Trump’s account has more than 30 million followers. While it’s easy to take Trump’s massive following as a sign of support, the fact that he’s called for a ban on Muslim immigration and poses as a “pied piper” should give pause to anyone predisposed against him based on religion.

Narendra Modi

Indian prime minister Narendra Modi has attracted more than 80 million followers on Twitter alone. Like almost all of his peers on the platform, Modi is a user, having first logged on in 2008. Since then, he’s used the service to promote his government’s policies and to highlight social justice issues. One of his most popular tweets concerns education, which he often tweets about conditionally, as he’s made it a focus of his administration. 

Conclusion

These are just a few of the world leaders who have the most-followed Twitter accounts. There are many others who have relatively modest followings, but still have a large number of followers. Political leaders have a great influential impact on their audiences.