YouTube has become the latest platform to ban controversial influencer Andrew Tate for breaching its hate speech rules.
The ban comes days after the former kickboxer, branded a “threat to young men”, had his official accounts removed from Facebook and Instagram for violating policies around dangerous individuals, parent company Meta said.
Mr Tate rose to fame when he appeared on Big Brother in 2016 – but was later axed from the programme after a video emerged online showing him apparently attacking a woman with a belt.
He claimed the clip had been edited.
But he became engulfed in further controversy after making a string of offensive comments about women, including suggesting women “bear some responsibility” for being assaulted, which resulted in a Twitter ban.
His “harmful content” spread “like wildfire” across social media – with his Instagram account accumulating four million followers before it was shut down.
Channels associated with him were removed from YouTube because of “multiple violations” of community guidelines and terms of service, including its hate speech policy, a spokesperson said in a statement given to Bloomberg.
“If a channel is terminated, the uploader is unable to use, own or create any other YouTube channels,” they added.
The social media platform took action in the wake of a backlash against the multi-millionaire from online safety and anti-hate campaigners.
They repeatedly warned of the dangers of his commentary and how his content was widely re-shared.
Joe Mulhall, director of research at Hope Not Hate, said: “We are delighted that after discussions with YouTube, and our public campaigning, they have permanently removed his account.
“Andrew Tate’s YouTube account was a huge source for harmful content which spread like wildfire across the internet.”
But Mr Mulhall urged major tech platforms to take further action to “make the internet a safe place”.
“Removing Tate’s accounts from platforms does not automatically remove his content,” he added.
‘Labels’ for Andrew Tate’s content
Mr Tate does not have an official TikTok account but his clips have become increasingly popular, with the hashtag of his name being clicked on 13 billion times – prompting calls for the platform to do more to prevent the spread of “dangerous content”.
Read more:
Two thirds of children robbed of “innocence” after being exposed to harmful online content
Facebook and Instagram risk “gross betrayal” of children says Home Secretary
TikTok said on Friday that it had been removing Mr Tate’s videos and accounts linked to him for “weeks” – and vowed to continue doing so.
A spokesperson for the platform said: “Misogyny is a hateful ideology that is not tolerated on TikTok.”
