Why did PM Imran Khan unfollow everyone on Twitter?

Prime Minister Imran Khan is known for his active social media presence with his party being the first to tap into the politicking world of digital media. But Monday night saw a surprise move by the premier when he unfollowed all accounts on Twitter. 

The move left many wondering as to why PM Imran Khan would take such a step with many speculating that the premier might not want to know what others have to say. 

To solve the riddle, Geo Pakistan invited PTI central secretary of information Ahmad Jawad and asked him why the premier unfollowed everyone - even friends.

"People can still see his tweets and he can still see their tweets," said Jawad.

The PTI member dismissed speculations that the premier unfollowed everyone to avoid feedback or criticism. "Just yesterday he held a meeting with journalists," argued Jawad.

"You find authentic feedback from the traditional media as compared to social media where it is difficult to distinguish news from fake news," he continued. "For authentic news, there are newspapers and television. As a prime minister, he is getting news from there."

"This does not mean the prime minister does not trust social media anymore," emphasised Jawad. "PTI and PM Imran Khan consider social media to be the most effective medium."

"If you look at other world leaders, they also follow a very few accounts, and on average, the percentage of the accounts they follow is 0.001 %," he maintained.Read more: Did Prime Minister Imran Khan just unfollow everyone on Twitter?

A quick look through the Twitter profiles of world leaders show that US President Donald Trump follows 51 accounts while US President-elect Joe Biden follows 22. India's Narendra Modi follows 2,346 accounts and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson follows 458 accounts.