Andrew Tate, a self-described “success coach” who has come under fire for what many see as misogynistic advice, has been banned from Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and YouTube.
A spokesperson for Meta, which owns Instagram and Facebook, confirmed to NBC News on Friday that the company removed Tate’s official accounts from social media platforms for violating the company’s policies on dangerous organizations and individuals. The spokesperson also confirmed that the ban is permanent. Before the ban, Tate had 4.7 million followers on Instagram.
A TikTok spokesperson said Monday that following an investigation by the platform, an account belonging to Tate has been permanently banned. TikTok is using software to identify and remove re-uploads of videos found to violate its Community Guidelines, the spokesperson said, as well as reporting certain content so that it is not recommended in users’ “For You” feeds.
“Misogyny is a hateful ideology that is not tolerated on TikTok,” the TikTok spokesperson said. “Our investigation into this content is ongoing as we continue to remove offending accounts and videos and pursue measures to strengthen our enforcement, including our detection models, against this type of content.”
YouTube also banned Tate-related channels, including the TateSpeech channel, which had over 744,000 subscribers.
“We shut down channels associated with Andrew Tate for multiple violations of our Community Guidelines and Terms of Service, including our hate speech policy,” YouTube spokeswoman Ivy Choi said Monday. “If a channel is closed, the uploader is unable to use, own or create any other YouTube channels.”
If YouTube catches another channel re-uploading videos from a previously banned channel, the company said it can remove the content. If a channel is dedicated to reposting content from a banned channel, YouTube may block that channel as well.
The bans follow an online campaign to deplatform Tate, whose influence on his largely young audience has become a growing concern among parents and teachers.
“It’s very unfortunate that my old videos of me playing a comic character have been taken out of context and amplified to the point where people believe completely false accounts of me,” Tate said in an emailed statement to NBC. News. Monday, responding to a request for comment about his ban from Instagram and Facebook.
He said that “bowing to pressure on Instagram is a great shame” and blamed “internet sensationalism” for portraying him as “anti women”.
Tate has been active in far-right circles for years, but he began gaining a following and mainstream attention after appearing on numerous podcasts and Twitch streams.
He went on to go viral mainly because of his extreme statements: comparing women to property, graphically describing how he would attack a woman to accuse her of cheating, and claiming that men would rather date 18 and 19-year-olds than women. in their mid-20s because the former have had sex with fewer men.
His views are widely reposted on TikTok and Instagram Reels.
Tate has denied allegations of misogyny and previously told NBC News that his statements include teaching men to “avoid toxic people altogether.”
“The media is spinning a false image of me, repeatedly, and Instagram bowing to the pressure is a massive shame,” Tate said in his emailed statement Monday. “I will always have millions of fans around the world and my platform will be a beacon of light, teaching people of all genders and races how to respect each other for years to come. Now these fans can’t learn important love lessons.”
Tate has also been charged with running a pyramid scheme through his online program “Hustler’s University 2.0” and engaging in a human trafficking operation after Romanian police raided his residence based on a tip about an American woman being held against her will. . Tate denied both charges.
He also received backlash in 2017 when, at the height of the #MeToo movement, he tweeted that women should “bear some responsibility” for sexual assault, among other widely criticized statements that appeared to blame women for the abuse and harassment that they get. Twitter permanently suspended his account that year.
Tate’s Twitch channel, which has 50,000 followers, remains active.
