Former prime minister Najib Razak remains Malaysia’s most influential political figure on social media despite ongoing legal and political challenges, according to a new analysis by ILHAM Centre.
The study found that Najib currently has the highest combined following across major social media platforms, amassing a total of 9.35 million followers on Facebook, YouTube, X, Instagram, TikTok and Threads.
According to the analysis, Najib’s strongest influence remains on Facebook, where he has 4.6 million followers, followed by X with 3.2 million followers.
ILHAM Centre said the figures highlight Najib’s continued popularity among more mature social media users who actively follow political developments online.
“Despite facing various political and legal challenges, Najib’s political brand continues to possess extremely strong digital appeal,” the analysis stated.
Trailing behind Najib is former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad with 8.11 million followers, followed closely by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim with 7.9 million followers across multiple platforms.
Meanwhile, Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman ranked fourth overall with 7.6 million followers, while former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin recorded 6.4 million followers.
Although Syed Saddiq did not top the overall rankings, he emerged as the most dominant political figure among younger users after leading three major platforms — Instagram, TikTok and Threads.
The Muar MP reportedly has 2.2 million Instagram followers, 2.3 million TikTok followers and around 643,000 followers on Threads.
ILHAM Centre described the numbers as clear evidence of Syed Saddiq’s strong influence among younger voters, especially Generation Z users who increasingly consume political content through short videos and interactive digital platforms.
The study also found that YouTube remains underutilised by many Malaysian politicians despite its strong potential for delivering detailed policy explanations and in-depth discussions.
Interestingly, Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli, who ranked eighth overall, emerged as the politician with the highest number of YouTube followers at around 137,000 subscribers.
He was followed by Mahathir and Khairy on the video platform.
According to ILHAM Centre, the trend suggests there is still strong public interest in long-form political discussions, policy analysis and issue-based content even as short-form videos continue dominating social media trends.
