Facebook and Instagram have just announced that they have banned influencer Andrew Tate because of his many shocking comments.
Teachers giving the alert on the words of their students, worried parents, exasperated activists… In recent days, a name has not stopped coming back on social networks. Andrew Tate, an influencer accustomed to controversy, has just been banned from Facebook and Instagram. This Anglo-American, former kickboxer and reality TV star, is accused by many of being responsible for a wave of hatred against women and of inspiring young people to follow his example. The scandalous 35-year-old influencer was, before being banned, followed by millions of people around the world. Loyal subscribers, ready to follow him anywhere, even if it means becoming more and more extreme.
In an email sent to the “Guardian” on Friday, Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, explained that it had decided to close its accounts because of their “dangerous” nature. The man, already banned from Twitter for several years, regularly makes hateful remarks towards women, believing in particular that they have a responsibility in the rapes they suffer or explaining that they should not drive. This public support for Donald Trump, but also close to Alex Jones, a conspiratorialist particularly followed in the United States, is aimed at men in his videos. On Youtube, in one of them, he describes himself “as absolutely misogynistic”, commenting: “I am realistic and when you are realistic, you are sexist. It’s impossible to be realistic and not be sexist. In other videos, he asserts that women are “property of men” or gives advice on how to attack them. “You grab it, you slap it, you strangle it and you fuck it,” he says, for example.
“Misogyny is a hateful ideology”
Followed by 4.7 million people on Instagram, he was also very present on TikTok, before being banned there too. His videos had more than 12 million views, reports “Forbes”. “Misogyny is a hateful ideology that is not tolerated on TikTok,” a spokesperson for the app told the Guardian. “We have been removing violent videos and accounts for weeks, and are pleased to hear that other platforms are also taking action against this individual.”
Several associations have welcomed the disappearance of the influencer on social networks. Women’s advocacy group Hope Not Hate told the Daily Mail that Andrew Tate’s presence created a “dangerous crossover to the far right”, and gave him a platform as England and Wales, are experiencing “a rape crisis”.
Installed in Romania
In a press release addressed to the “Guardian”, the 30-year-old for his part claimed to play “a role on the Internet”. “Internet sensationalism has launched the idea that I am against women when nothing could be further from the truth. I am sincerely innocent,” he said. On NBC, however, he added that he “didn’t care” about being called a misogynist or getting banned. If he himself claims to give money to associations for women, “Forbes” recalls that in 2016, he was fired from the reality show “Big Brother” after a video showing him hitting a woman with a belt had resurfaced.
Born in Chicago and raised in England, he now lives in Romania. In one of his videos, he explained that “40%” of the reason he moved to this country was that Romanian police were less likely to pursue sexual assault allegations. In The Fellas Podcast, he added that he moved there because “Western society is degraded and corrupt.” In April, Romanian police reportedly raided his home, where he allegedly held two women against their will. He has denied all charges against him and his popularity has since skyrocketed. “Between July 10 and 23, he generated more searches on Google than former President Donald Trump, Kim Kardashian, Kylie Jenner and Covid-19, according to Google Trends,” reports “Forbes”. Today, Andrew Tate, who presents himself as a wealthy, cigar-smoking playboy, is dubbed by his admirers, “the king of toxic masculinity.”
His face is so present in the Anglo-Saxon media that journalist Wendy Tuohy, of the “Sydney Morning Herald” wrote a long column addressed to all the young boys and men who “reject his ideas”, saying “thank you”. “Nothing had prepared me to see my adorable 22 year old son, watching in our kitchen, in the presence of my 18 year old daughter who was studying, a video in which this 35 year old guy with the body of a cyclist explains that the girls of 18 or 19 year olds are better than 26 year olds because they have experienced less of what starts with a B and ends with an E,” she wrote. The magazine “GQ” for its part wrote an article about him, explaining how the one who calls himself “alpha male” “assembled an army of lonely and angry men”. As for “Rolling Stone,” reporters described him as “the man who pisses off young Americans when he’s just a mediocre guy with a microphone.”