Last Updated on August 19, 2022
Popular influencer Andrew Tate has been banned by Facebook and Instagram for violating its policy pertaining to “dangerous individuals,” parent company Meta has confirmed. Tate, a former kickboxer and now popular streamer known for hard-hitting takes on post modernism, has become one of the internet’s most watched personalities over the last year. Tate’s banning has been celebrated by progressives, who have labelled him a “misogynist” for his lifestyle and comments.
Tate, who is a citizen of both the U.S. and the U.K., first rose to prominence after appearing on the reality series Big Brother. He also enjoyed a lengthy kickboxing career before transitioning into podcasting and streaming.
Over the last year, Tate has appeared on a number of the world’s top podcasts and streams. Clips of Tate have become wildly popular on TikTok and YouTube. On TikTok alone, videos with a hashtag using his name have been viewed over 13 billion times.
Despite the popularity, Andrew Tate does not personally have a TikTok account. He likely would not be welcome were he to change his mind, as a company spokesperson said: “Misogyny is a hateful ideology that is not tolerated on TikTok.”
“We’ve been removing violative videos and accounts for weeks, and we welcome the news that other platforms are also taking action against this individual,” the spokesperson added, according to Sky News.
A number of progressive groups have pressured social media platforms to ban Tate, arguing that his popularity on TikTok poses a threat to young boys. Responding to news of his ban, the women’s group Refuge said Meta had made the “right decision”.
“This is the kind of decisive action needed to tackle the online radicalization of young men towards a violently misogynistic world view,” the organization’s chief executive, Ruth Davison, said. The progressive group Hope Not Hate also praised the ban and thanked Meta for taking “swift” action.
Center for Countering Digital hate said banning Andrew Tate does not go far enough, however. “Tate encourages his followers to post his videos using their own accounts and link back to his website,” said the organization’s chief executive, Imran Ahmed. “Accounts are still pumping out clips of Tate as part of his Hustlers University pyramid scheme. YouTube is rife with videos doing this, and have made Google up millions in ad revenue,” he added.
“Meta should now go further and ensure that other people posting videos containing Mr. Tate are sanctioned for breaching their community standards on hate, and ban the posting of links to his website, which contains material designed to radicalize young men.”
Andrew Tate has yet to respond publicly to the bans.