Meta Kicks Kickboxing Influencer Off All Its Platforms for Unspecified Violation of ‘Dangerous Organizations and Individuals’ Policy
Former kickboxer turned social media influencer Andrew Tate has been banned from Meta-owned social media platforms, Instagram and Facebook for violating consumer policies.
Tate, 35, rose to fame in 2016 on the TV show Big Brother, from which he was removed over footage displaying him attacking a woman. Since then, the former kickboxer has grown in popularity on social media, specifically on TikTok and Youtube, where his controversial clips tend to go viral.
Tate gained notoriety when Twitter banned the influencer from their platform for arguing that women “bear responsibility,” for their experiences with sexual assault. In 2017, amid the rise of the #MeToo movement, the former kickboxer claimed that women put themselves “in a position to be raped,” which caused an extensive backlash.
Misogynistic rhetoric is commonplace within Tate’s social media presence, often being embraced by far-right influencers and men’s rights extremists. Clearly, there is an appetite for this kind of content, as Tate’s Instagram account grew exponentially from 1 million followers in early June to over 4.6 million in August.
Meta removed Tate from their platforms on Friday, arguing that he had violated its policies regarding “dangerous organizations and individuals.” The social media giant, however, provided no further details about the account removal.
The former kickboxer has not yet commented on the ban from Instagram and Facebook.
Just last month, Tate appeared on the Full Send podcast to talk about his newfound social media popularity. Unsurprisingly, Tate spewed some of his signature ideologies about society and women in particular. The former kickboxer argued that women are a form of currency for the rich and powerful.
Content including Tate has proved to be consistent viral material, specifically on TikTok where videos including #AndrewTate have been viewed more than 12.7 billion times. The former kickboxer’s extensive fan base repost his videos, gaining millions of views.
