Zimbabwe’s president unfollowed en masse on Twitter

About 20,000 people have reportedly unfollowed Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Twitter in protest against his government.

According to the private ZimLive website, opposition activists started a “peaceful resistance” campaign last week to unfollow the president, decrying a deepening economic crisis in the country.

According to the website, the president’s Twitter followers were down from 565,000 to 546,000 by 4 July.

Mr Mnangagwa’s spokesman George Charamba dismissed the move, saying the president was not concerned by “fake people” unfollowing him.

It comes as the opposition and civil society groups are mobilising for nationwide protests on 31 July to demand that President Mnangagwa step down. Security forces have previously clamped down on protests.