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Facebook and Instagram ban Andrew Tate for breaching policies

Andrew Tate - TateSpeech/YouTube
Andrew Tate - TateSpeech/YouTube

Influencer Andrew Tate has been banned from Facebook and Instagram for violating its policies, social media giant Meta has confirmed.

The parent company of the two platforms said it had removed Mr Tate’s official accounts for breaching its rules around dangerous organisations or individuals but did not provide further details.

Mr Tate rose to fame when he appeared on the reality TV show Big Brother in 2016, however, he was removed from the programme after a video surfaced online which appeared to show him attacking a woman with a belt - a clip he claimed had been edited.

He has since gained further notoriety online for a number of comments about women, including suggesting that they “bear some responsibility” for being assaulted - an incident for which he was banned from Twitter.

Videos of Mr Tate have gone viral on social media, including one in which he was interviewed by a YouTuber in which he said he was “absolutely a misogynist”, adding: “I’m a realist and when you’re a realist you’re sexist. There’s no way you can be rooted in reality and not be sexist.”

He also said in the same video that women are “intrinsically lazy” and that there was “no such thing as an independent female”.

In another video, Mr Tate has said: “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.

Campaign groups issue warning

A number of campaign groups have criticised Mr Tate for his views and warned he was a danger to young men and boys who see his content online, urging the various platforms on which he is active to remove him.

Andrew Tate gained further notoriety online for a number of comments about women - Channel 5
Andrew Tate gained further notoriety online for a number of comments about women - Channel 5

Videos of and about Mr Tate have also become popular on both YouTube and TikTok - videos using a hashtag of his name have been viewed more than 13 billion times on TikTok alone.

In a statement, a TikTok spokesman 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.”

Responding to news of Mr Tate’s ban from Facebook and Instagram, Joe Mulhall, director of research at Hope Not Hate, said: “Tate poses a genuine threat to young men, radicalising them towards extremism, misogyny, racism and homophobia.

“We’ve provided significant evidence to the major social media platforms, including Meta, about his activity and why he must be removed.

“We welcome Meta’s swift action to remove Andrew Tate and we’ll be putting pressure on TikTok to follow this example. They must act now to prevent further spread of these extremist views.”

Ruth Davison, chief executive of women’s safety charity Refuge, said Meta had made the “right decision” in banning Mr Tate.

“This is the kind of decisive action needed to tackle the online radicalisation of young men towards a violently misogynistic worldview,” she said.

Mr Tate says it is a 'massive shame' that Instagram 'bowed to pressure' and blocked him - @cobrarate/Instagram
Mr Tate says it is a 'massive shame' that Instagram 'bowed to pressure' and blocked him - @cobrarate/Instagram

‘I am genuinely innocent’

Responding to his Meta ban, Mr Tate said: “It is very unfortunate that old videos of me, where I was playing a comedic character, have been taken out of context and amplified to the point where people believe absolutely false narratives about me.

“In the last two weeks I dedicated over one million dollars to charities supporting women. I posted this on Instagram, but Instagram ignored it.

“I have made videos explaining that my mother is my hero, and how men should protect and provide for women. Instagram ignored it.

“Internet sensationalism has purported the idea that I’m anti-women when nothing could be further from the truth. This is simply hate mobs who are uninterested in the facts of the matter trying to personally attack me.”

He added that it was a “massive shame” that Instagram “bowed to pressure” and blocked him, saying that his account would be a “beacon of light, teaching people of all genders and races how to respect one another for years to come”.

He continued: “Banning me only inspires more internet hate mobs and more division…I am genuinely innocent.”