Andrew Tate and His Impact on Society

Written by Diksha Chavan | Edited by Adaria Crutcher

andIf you are someone who happens to have social media, it is very likely you are familiar with the name Andrew Tate. The “influencer” gained viral popularity over the past few months through YouTube, TikTok, and Twitter. His content is quite controversial because almost all of his videos are filled with extreme misogyny and sometimes even violence.

Despite only recently becoming more well-known, he has been in the social media industry since 2016. He debuted on the popular TV showBig Brother and is a professional kickboxer. He has been a controversial figure since the beginning of his career.

After being on the show for only a week, he was removed due to a video surfacing of him beating a woman with a belt. His response was “They edited out ALL of the laughing and joking and it’s felt! They are pretending I beat her up when we were joking and the belt made noise but didn’t hurt! They cut all laughing.”

In 2017, Tate was banned from Twitter after posting a disturbing tweet stating that women “bare some responsibility” for being sexually assaulted. Twitter permanently suspended his account, but Elon Musk lifted the ban and allowed him to regain popularity. However, he is permanently banned from other apps including TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram, with spokespeople from the platforms denouncing his blatant misogyny.

Tate has created a short-lived but extremely successful online presence, which some believe to be a persona. Tate even described himself as an “online character” in a statement to NBC News. He has quickly become an icon to young men and boys, whom he claims to be teaching how to avoid toxic people, relationships, and environments. Many have argued that this is far from the truth, with there being many videos of him inciting physical violence against women. He has recorded videos in which he detailed how he would assault a woman who cheated on him and described an incident where he got into a bar fight and punched a woman, breaking her jaw.

The UK began an investigation into Tate and abuse charges against women. His home was raided, and he was held in jail for two days. He denied all allegations. During the ongoing investigation, Tate relocated to Romaina and, when explaining his reasoning, said that it would be less difficult to convict him of rape charges there. He claimed this was 40% of his reasoning; the other percentage was so he could “be free.”

He has now been indicted on counts of human trafficking and rape in Romaina. He was charged along with his brother and two other Romanian citizens. They all are currently under house arrest while they await the results of the investigation.

While the investigation is yet to be completed, the broader impact of Tate on his audience remains a question. His extreme misogyny could be quickly written off as a joke or skit, but the reality is much more serious. His indictment will hopefully prove the importance of influencer platforms and what their impact may be.

References:

https://thetab.com/uk/2022/07/25/andrew-tate-big-brother-recap-263892

https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/viral/andrew-tate-facebook-instagram-ban-meta-rcna43998

https://www.npr.org/2022/08/20/1118624860/andrew-tate-facebook-instagram-banned

https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/viral/internet-cant-stop-talking-andrew-tate-tiktok-rcna42744

https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/20/europe/andrew-tate-charges-trial-intl-gbr/index.html