For violating Meta’s policies, influencer Andrew Tate has been banned from Facebook and Instagram.
The former kickboxer rose to prominence in 2016 after being booted from the reality show Big Brother due to a video that appeared to show him assaulting a woman.
He went on to become well-known online, with Twitter banning him for saying that women should “bear responsibility” for sexual assault.
At the time his account was deleted, he had 4.7 million Instagram followers.
This figure had risen quickly from around one million followers in June.
Meta stated that the kickboxing star had been removed from its platforms for violating its policies on dangerous organizations and individuals, but provided no further details.
Mr Tate claimed the video had been edited at the time of his removal from Big Brother, calling it “a total lie trying to make me look bad.”
He has yet to respond to the Meta ban.
Analysis
Marianna Spring, correspondent for disinformation and social media.
Andrew Tate’s videos, which promote misogyny and target women, have gained popularity this summer, with many teens commenting on how frequently he appears on their social media feeds.
Concerns have been raised about the real-world impact of his content, particularly on younger users exposed to it during their school holidays when they have free time.
The focus has primarily been on TikTok, where users claim they were easily served his videos, sparking a new wave of videos commenting on and criticizing Mr Tate’s content. YouTube has also come under fire, as it is where he has amassed millions of views.
For Panorama, I revealed how social media sites promote anti-women sentiment. The investigations revealed how the algorithms of some platforms were recommending more and more misogyny to a troll account.
Since then, several websites have pledged to protect female users better. However, concerns have been raised about social media sites’ role in disseminating anti-women content.
‘A genuine danger to young men.’
He has faced backlash online for his remarks, particularly from the UK advocacy group Hope Not Hate, which applauded the most recent ban.
Mr Tate, according to Joe Mulhall, the group’s director of research, “poses a genuine threat to young men, radicalizing them towards extremism, misogyny, racism, and homophobia.”
He continued: “We’ve provided substantial evidence to the major social media platforms, including Meta, about his behavior and why he needs to be removed.
“We applaud Meta’s quick action to remove Andrew Tate, and we will put pressure on TikTok to follow suit. They must act immediately to prevent the spread of these extremist views.”
According to a TikTok spokesperson, “Misogyny is a deplorable ideology that will not be tolerated on TikTok.
“We’ve been removing infringing videos and accounts for weeks, and we’re glad to hear that other platforms are taking action against this individual as well.”
‘Unquestionably a misogynist.’
Mr. Tate’s videos have gone viral on social media platforms, particularly TikTok, where videos with the hashtag #AndrewTate have been viewed over 12.7 billion times.
However, this figure includes videos not only of Tate and his supporters but also of people criticizing the influencer.
And some of his most popular YouTube videos have received millions of views.
In one video, in which another YouTuber interviewed him, he stated that he was “I’m a realist, and when you’re a realist, you’re sexist,” she continued. It’s impossible to be grounded in reality and not be sexist.”
Later in the same video, he referred to women as “intrinsically lazy” and claimed that “there is no such thing as an independent female.”
Mr Tate stated in another video, “If I have responsibility over her, then I must have a degree of authority.”
“You can’t be responsible for a dog if it doesn’t obey you,” he added.
