Andrew Tate and a bag of money. The former kickboxing champion likes to flaunt his wealth – and it also attracts the attention of young men.
nad./(Bloomberg)
The doors close for the misogynist Andrew Tate. After several social networks had already reacted, the video platform YouTube is now also blocking the controversial influencer. A channel associated with Tate, which has 768,000 subscribers, was taken down Monday for multiple violations of its terms of service, including its hate speech policy. Tate is no longer able to use, own or create any other YouTube channels, a company spokeswoman said.
His profiles on Facebook and Instagram disappeared on Friday. Tate recently had 4.7 million followers for the latter. Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has now explained to “BBC” that Tate’s content violated the terms of use and was therefore blocked. In addition, investigations into human trafficking against the British-American dual citizen are ongoing in Romania.
Tate had become a global conversation in the past few weeks with videos that despised women and glorified violence. On Twitter, for example, Tate wrote a long time ago that rape victims must also take responsibility for the crime. In videos shared on social networks such as Tiktok, Instagram or YouTube, he glorifies violence against women and explains that they are the property of men and must be obeyed.
While millions clicked on Tate’s videos and he attracted a lot of attention from a young target audience, there was also a lot of criticism. This applied not only to author Tate and his followers, but also to the platforms that allowed him to distribute his content. In addition, the algorithms ensure, particularly on the video platform Tiktok, where Tate’s content is still accessible, that his videos are shown regularly to an ever broader and younger audience without being asked.
Tiktok said it would check Tate’s content for violations of its own policies and remove it if necessary. Unlike on Instagram, for example, Tate does not have his own profile here. His videos are shared by his fans.
A Tate spokesman said: “Baning Andrew Tate from these platforms may be the answer, but it’s not that simple. Removing Tate’s voice does not contribute to a kinder, hate-free society.” The UK-based anti-right extremist group Hope Not Hate launched a petition in August calling for Tate to be banned from major social networks. “The effect Tate’s scathing misogyny can have on young male audiences is very worrying,” the group said in its petition.