Former U.S. President Barack Obama lost over 2 million followers on Twitter during the platform’s purge of “suspicious” accounts this week, while other celebrities lost hundreds of thousands.
According to Variety, Obama lost 2.36 million followers, which amounts to around 2.3 percent of his followers.
Singer Katy Perry and talk show host Ellen DeGeneres lost 2.6 percent of their followers, while singers Justin Bieber and Rihanna lost 2.5 percent.
President Trump lost 300,000 followers.
On Wednesday, it was reported that Twitter would be purging “tens of millions” of “suspicious” accounts in an attempt to crack down on fake users and “restore trust.”
Following the purge, popular Twitter accounts, including conservative figures, complained about the follower reduction.
30k of my followers have been knocked out by @Twitter. What’s going on? I think some Democrats working for twitter are purging accounts. I’m running against Maxine Waters. I need you to donate to fire back. Chip in $5 $10 $25 $50 https://t.co/3DpgAzzfio. Other states can donate.
— Omar Navarro (@RealOmarNavarro) July 13, 2018
I just lost 3,000 followers. WTH?!? Has this recently happened to other conservative Twitter users?
— Larry Elder (@larryelder) July 12, 2018
Twitter just removed 15,000+ followers from my account presumably because they are "bots". Can I get a list of them or evidence of the criteria for their removal because I miss them already.#ByeByeBotsIHardlyKnewYe
— Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) July 12, 2018
In 2013, a report claimed 53 percent of Obama’s Twitter followers were fake.
Charlie Nash is a reporter for Breitbart Tech. You can follow him on Twitter @MrNashington, or like his page at Facebook.
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