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Meet Most Followed World Leaders on Instagram

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By Dipo Olowookere

Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, is the most followed world leader on Instagram with 14.8 million followers. He is closely followed by Indonesian President, Joko Widodo, with 12.2 million followers, who more than doubled his followers over the past 12 months, according to the newly released 2018 World Leaders on Instagram study by leading global communications agency BCW (Burson Cohn & Wolfe). With 10 million followers, the United States President, Mr Donald Trump, is in third position.

Pope Francis is in fourth position with 5.7 million followers, just ahead of Queen Rania of Jordan, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the White House account, each with more than 4 million followers. The UK Royal Family has almost tripled its followers over the past 12 months in large part thanks to the pictures of the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle which increased the account’s followers by 570,000 on May 19, 2018.

The study analyses the activity of the 426 Instagram accounts of heads of state and government and foreign ministers, 100 more than in the 2017 study, using aggregate data from Facebook’s CrowdTangle tool.

As of October 1, 2018, the accounts have a combined total of 98.3 million followers and published 98,372 posts in the past 12 months which have garnered a total of 860.4 million interactions (comments and shares).

U.S. President Donald Trump leads the rankings in terms of total interactions (comments and likes). Over the past 12 months, @realDonaldTrump has garnered more than 218 million interactions, more than three times as many as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has more followers but only 69 million interactions on his 80 photos and videos over the past year. However, considering the number of interactions (comments and likes) per post, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the most effective world leader on Instagram, with each of his 80 posts receiving, on average, 873,302 interactions. Turkey’s President Erdoğan is in second position with 413,934 interactions and Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo’s Instagram posts receive an average of 411,673 interactions per post.

“This third installment of the BCW study shows Instagram has become the social media network where world leaders garner the most interactions,” said Chad Latz, Chief Innovation Officer, BCW. “What is astounding is that the average size of world leaders’ Instagram accounts is less than half the size of their Facebook pages – with five times fewer posts over the past 12 months. However, all Instagram accounts together total 860 million interactions, which is 162 million (23 percent) more than the total interactions on Facebook over the same period.”

The World Leaders on Instagram study also found that 156 of the 193 United Nations member states maintain an official Instagram account, 16 more than in the 2017 study. Ninety-two heads of state, 48 heads of government and 36 foreign ministers maintain personal pages on the platform, which tend to get better engagement than institutional accounts.

Instagram is not the most obvious social network to make sweeping policy statements, however Instagram Stories have become a secondary channel for digital diplomacy, where word leaders meet, greet and tag each other.

Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo is Sub-Saharan Africa’s most followed leader on Instagram with 431 million followers, ahead of Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame and Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari with more than 160,000 followers each.

Also, Jordan’s Queen Rania is the most followed Arab leader with more than 4.8 million followers, surpassing Sheikh Mohammed, the Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, with more than 3.3 million followers.

In addition, Argentina’s President Mauricio Macri is the most followed Latin American leader on Instagram with 880,000 followers ahead of outgoing Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and Paraguay’s Mario Abdo Benítez who each boast more than half a million followers.

The British Royal Family tops the Instagram ranking in the European Union with 3.5 million followers, far ahead of French President Emmanuel Macron, with 1.1 million followers, and Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel with 684,000 followers.

The Information Department of the Government of Brunei is the most active government account, with more than 17 posts per day on average. Imran Khan, Pakistan’s Prime Minister, is in second position with more than 10 posts per day and the Foreign Ministry of Kuwait is the third most prolific with more than eight posts per day.

Since June 2018, 15 percent of the 426 accounts have created Instagram TV (IGTV) channels which allow users to upload up to 60-minute-long videos in vertical format.

Dipo Olowookere is a journalist based in Nigeria that has passion for reporting business news stories. At his leisure time, he watches football and supports 3SC of Ibadan. Mr Olowookere can be reached via [email protected]

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Facebook Offers New Tools to Report Impersonation, Removes 20 million Accounts

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Facebook Original content creators

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

As part of its commitment to celebrating and rewarding creativity, Facebook has updated its guidance, with clear definitions of what counts as original and unoriginal content.

In a message on Monday, the social media platform said it was offering content creators new tools to report impersonation.

Launched last year, the content protection tool is expanding beyond detecting reel matches across Meta platforms to now also flag potential impersonation.

Creators can take action on content theft and easily submit impersonation reports all in one place.

Facebook, in the statement received by Business Post, said creators can check for access to content protection in their professional dashboard or apply for access here.

The platform also disclosed that in 2025, it removed over 20 million accounts impersonating large content creators, and impersonation reports related to large content creators dropped by 33 per cent.

Further, Facebook is deprioritising unoriginal content by making sure they do not perform well on its platform.

It noted that content that is duplicated from other sources or makes low-value changes to someone else’s content may see significantly reduced reach, and accounts that primarily post unoriginal content may lose eligibility for recommendations and monetisation.

It was emphasised that “these changes provide creators who post original content with greater reach and monetisation opportunities, provide stronger protections for their work, and reduce the reach of unoriginal content.”

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Genetec Sets New Standard for Enterprise Physical Security with Cloudlink 2210

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Genetec Cloudlink 2210

By Dipo Olowookere

A new high-density appliance that enables enterprises to scale cloud-managed physical security without forcing cloud-only storage or infrastructure replacement has been launched by a global leader in enterprise physical security software, Genetec.

The product, Cloudlink 2210, was designed for complex, enterprise-scale deployments and supports multiple workloads, including video management, access control, and intrusion detection, in a single appliance. By consolidating these workloads into one appliance, it reduces system sprawl, simplifies management in large-scale environments, and lowers operational overhead.

Unlike solutions that separate workloads across multiple proprietary systems, Genetec Cloudlink 2210 is built on an open architecture that supports a wide range of third-party devices, including cameras, access control systems, and intrusion panels. This enables organisations to modernise at scale within a unified, cloud-managed model designed to preserve architectural flexibility, while securely integrating existing hardware, maintaining business continuity, and reducing migration risks.

The company disclosed that Cloudlink 2210 also supports hundreds of connected devices per appliance and provides up to 240 TB of local storage per unit, making it well-suited for deployments with high device density and long retention policies. The Cloudlink 2210 is ideal for enterprise environments where uptime and local retention requirements are operational priorities because its design minimises dependence on cloud storage, helping organisations control long-term storage costs while maintaining the performance and availability required in enterprise environments.

The new product also incorporates hardware-level resiliency to support strict uptime and retention requirements. RAID-protected storage and redundant system components help ensure data protection and OS availability. Security workloads continue operating locally, independent of cloud connectivity, allowing deployments to maintain continuity even during network disruptions. Dual network interfaces provide redundancy and support network isolation to strengthen cybersecurity.

It scales by adding units as requirements grow, enabling organisations to increase device counts and storage capacity without redesigning their infrastructure. Centralised cloud management maintains visibility and control across deployments.

Genetec Cloudlink 2210 is part of the broader Genetec approach to deployment flexibility.  The cloud-managed appliance portfolio enables organisations to operate on premises, in the cloud, or across hybrid environments based on their operational and regulatory requirements. By combining high-performance local processing and storage with centralised cloud operations and management, Cloudlink 2210 supports scalable, cloud-managed deployments without compromising control or performance.

The Product Director for Unified Solutions at Genetec Incorporated, Mr Christian Chenard Lemire, said, “Enterprises don’t want to choose between innovation and operational certainty.

“With Cloudlink 2210, we’re redefining what cloud-managed physical security looks like at scale by giving organisations the freedom to modernise on their own terms, control long-term costs, and maintain the resiliency and continuity their most critical environments demand.”

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TikTok Invests Fresh $200K in AI Media Literacy in Africa

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TikTok AI Media Literacy Tokunbo Ibrahim

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

An additional $200,000 will be invested in Artificial Intelligence (AI) media literacy initiatives across Sub-Saharan Africa, TikTok announced during its third annual Sub-Saharan Africa Safer Internet Summit in Nairobi, Kenya.

The platform hosted government officials, regulators, online safety partners and industry leaders for the event, reinforcing its commitment to collaborative approaches to online safety.

The funds will be provided in ad credits to help support local organisations in the region to expand AI media literacy.

This investment builds on the company’s initial $2 million AI Literacy Fund, launched in November 2025, which awarded 20 global non-profits to create content that boosts public understanding of AI.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, TikTok initially supported three organisations to advance digital literacy and combat misinformation.

“With the rapid advancement of AI, we are committed to educating our community online, so they feel empowered to have responsible experiences with AI, whether that’s as viewers or creators.

“We are partnering with trusted local organisations that communities already know and rely on, because their expertise and deep local connections are essential to making AI literacy programs truly impactful,” the Global Head of Partnerships, Elections and Market Integrity at TikTok, Mr Valiant Richey, stated.

Earlier, the Head of Government Relations and Public Policy for Sub-Saharan Africa at TikTok, Ms Tokunbo Ibrahim, said, “As we host the 3rd Annual Safer Internet Summit here in Kenya, our mission is clear: to share learnings, insights, tackle common challenges and collaboratively advance actionable solutions that protect citizens online.

“By bringing together a diverse coalition of policymakers, tech innovators, and creators, we are ensuring that the conversations we have at this Summit are all-inclusive and lead to a more resilient digital landscape.”

The summit featured expert panels and discussions on critical topics, including TikTok’s Trust and Safety efforts, protecting young people online, and policy frameworks for responsible AI governance.

A key highlight of the event was showcasing how TikTok uses AI to transform how people share their creativity and discover new passions, while ensuring the community remains safe through transparent and responsible AI practices.

The platform also shared more about how recent advancements in AI are helping the platform moderate content faster and more consistently at scale, by improving automated moderation and empowering human teams with better moderation tools.

With over 100 million pieces of content uploaded daily to TikTok, these advances, which work alongside human moderation teams, are helping get violative content down faster, reducing the likelihood of the community seeing it.

According to the latest Community Guidelines Enforcement Q3 2025, TikTok removed over 14 million videos across Sub-Saharan Africa, with 96.7 per cent detected and removed proactively using automated technology, underscoring TikTok’s commitment to proactive moderation and swift action.

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