‘Toxic influencer’ Andrew Tate is banned from Facebook and Instagram for ‘violating policies’

‘Toxic influencer’ Andrew Tate, 35, has been banned from Facebook and Instagram after being slammed for creating misogynistic content.

Meta, who owns the two social media platforms, said the controversial influencer had violated its policies.  

The ex-Big Brother star made a multi-million pound fortune by posting disturbing misogynistic videos. 

Videos on the app under the hashtag Andrew Tate have racked up over 11.6 billion views but the content has been called out for promoting ‘extreme misogyny’ and capable of ‘radicalising’ young men.

The controversial influencer has been banned from Facebook and Instagram. Meta who owns the social media platforms say Andrew Tate, 35, has violated its policies

Meta told the BBC it had removed the former kickboxer from its platform for violating its policies on dangerous organisations and individuals – but did not provide further details.

At the time of his removal, he had 4.7 million followers on Instagram – this number had grown rapidly from around one million followers just two months ago in June.

Tate is yet to comment on the ban.

There have been 11.6 billion views on the TikTok app under a hashtag of his name

There have been 11.6 billion views on the TikTok app under a hashtag of his name 

Twitter had already banned him from their platform after he said women who have been raped ‘must bear some responsibility’.

In one video the 35-year-old billionaire advises men accused of cheating by their girlfriends to ‘bang out the machete, boom in her face and grip her by the neck. Shut up b*tch.’

Earlier this year in April, the misogynistic influencer was investigated by police in Romania for people trafficking and rape after a complaint from a woman who had lived with him there.

TikTok said it has been taking action against videos and accounts that are found to violate its community guidelines.  

Influencer Andrew Tate’s controversial past 

2012: 

Historic tweets by Tate were unearthed depicting allegedly abusive messages he sent to singer Cheryl regarding her marriage to footballer Ashley Cole. 

In one message he refers to Cheryl and her former husband as ‘massive w*g sockets,’ as well as launching an attack on Canadian rapper Drake.

He is also said to have posted the now-deleted comment: ‘If I wanted to see black people running I’d just threaten them with jobs.’ 

JUNE 2016: 

The 35-year-old was booted off the show after a video emerged of Tate beating his ex-girlfriend with a belt, which he claims is the reason why he was removed from the Channel 5 reality show the day before.

The clip shows the star continually hitting the woman with his belt – he also slaps her across the face. 

But the star insisted it was ‘playful fun’ and said at the time: ‘A longer version of the video shows us laughing and I’m hitting myself saying ‘it doesn’t hurt’. ‘I’m still friends with her and she’s in the UK with me now. I would never hit a woman.’

SEPTEMBER 2017:

Tate stoked the fires of controversy again shortly before World Suicide Day when he tweeted ‘depression isn’t real’.

He wrote: ‘There are very few fat lonely man, aged 60 with no money or family or hobbys. Who arnt depressed. – this is not a clinical disease’.

His remarks were later blasted by former boxer Ricky Hatton and best-selling author J.K Rowling. 

OCTOBER 2017: 

In the wake of the #MeToo movement, Tate caused controversy with his comments about rape.

At the time, he tweeted: ‘Women have been exchanging sex for opportunity for a very long time. Some did this. Weren’t abused. […] If you put yourself in a position to be raped, you must bear some responsibility.’

Twitter removed the tweets for violating their policy and Tate’s account was suspended, however he has since gone on to become a verified user.

MAY 2021: 

Tate and his brother Tristan allegedly ran a cam girl business in Romania after moving there in 2017, where ’75 lingerie-clad models take calls from fans paying $4 a minute’.

He previously said: ‘I could open a strip club, but that takes money and I need overhead, I need money. How can I use these women to make me money.

‘At the height of my webcam pimpin’ I think I am the king of the world […] the problem is the first two girls worked for me because they loved me, […] but once you get bigger you start hiring girls who don’t love you. They are in it for the money.’

APRIL 2022:

According to Daily Beast, Tate’s mansion was raided by Romanian authorities in relation to an alleged human trafficking incident.

The investigation followed a tip off from the US Embassy that a 21-year-old American woman was being held at the home against her will. 

The case is ongoing. The brothers were released at the time and deny all wrongdoing.

 

A TikTok 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 Meta ban comes after a public outcry led to thousands of people calling him to be banned from social media platforms because of his disturbing views.

Activists and women’s groups called for the Big Brother star to be axed from their platforms over fears his misogynistic views could result in ‘normalising violence’.

White Ribbon, a UK charity that seeks to end male violence against women, called Tate’s comments ‘extremely misogynistic’ and prompted fears about the ‘concerning’ long-term effect his views could have on younger audiences.

Speaking told the MailOnline: ‘Men and boys regularly watching and listening to negative presentations of masculinity may begin to adopt these attitudes and behaviours, believing that they are acting as the ‘ideal man’.

‘This relates to being seen as tough, aggressive and suppressing emotion. These traits feed into gender norms, what ‘being a man’ and ‘being a woman’ is. Gender inequality is a direct result of traditional and negative stereotypes which confine women’s and men’s roles in society.

‘Not only does this create a lot of pressure on men and boys, often affecting their mental health and self-image, it also creates dangerous cultures and environments for women and girls to exist in.

‘Sexist and derogatory comments exist on the same spectrum as controlling behaviour and physical and sexual violence, which creates environments where men go on to murder women.’

Politicians also weighed in on the debate claiming that the Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok, where majority of Tate’s views come from, was ‘more interested in data harvesting’ than removing harmful rape content.

Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said: ‘This is yet another example that demonstrates how poor TikTok truly is. A person like this should have no space on social media.

‘TikTok – which has suspect links to security services in China – is more interested in data harvesting than protecting our children.

‘Parents must be made more aware of the dangers of their children using this app, which is targeting kids and their data which in the future can be harvested by a foreign power ill-disposed to the UK and what we believe in’.

Andrew Bridgen, MP for North West Leicestershire, told MailOnline the TikTok should take responsibility for videos on its platform and had a duty of care to take harmful content down as soon as possible.

He added: ‘It’s highly irresponsible of TikTok to keep videos like this up for young people to see.

‘We know that TikTok can have a great influence on young minds, and it’s clearly a popular part of the online world. It’s worrying that messaging like this can be seen by so many people.’

At the time of the criticism, a spokesman for TikTok told MailOnline: ‘Misogyny and other hateful ideologies and behaviours are not tolerated on TikTok, and we are working to review this content and take action against violations of our guidelines.

‘We continually look to strengthen our policies and enforcement strategies, including adding more safeguards to our recommendation system, as part of our work to keep TikTok a safe and inclusive space for our community.

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