Influencer Andrew Tate has been permanently banned from YouTube for infringing the popular video-sharing platform’s hate speech policies.
The removal of the 35-year-old self-avowed success coach’s account comes a day after TikTok banned him for breaching the social media platform’s policies, while Meta banned him from Facebook and Instagram on Friday for infringing its rules.
Campaigners celebrated news that Tate, who has routinely been accused of misogyny, has been from banned from YouTube but argued tech platforms need to go further in curtailing the ex-kickboxing champion’s influence as they warned banning his accounts fails to eradicate his content.
The former Big Brother star, whose fame has grown considerably in recent weeks, has faced fierce criticism for discussing fighting women, saying “grip her up by the neck” in a video, as well as referring to putting his “imprint” on 18-19-year-old girls in other videos.
Tate, who had 4.6 million Instagram followers, has also previously referred to married women as “property” that their husbands own. Tate claims women should “shut the f*** up, have kids, sit at home, be quiet and make coffee” in videos where he claims to talk about feminism.
Joe Mulhall, director of research at Hope not Hate, a prominent campaign group, 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 more action is required from all major tech platforms to make the internet a safer place. Removing Tate's accounts from platforms does not automatically remove his content”.
According to YouTube, Tate has been barred from creating, utilising, or possessing any other channels on their video-sharing site. The platform notes that if they are informed of a channel resharing content from a channel which was previously removed, they may get rid of the content or put a stop to the new channel if it is committed to resharing content.
A spokesperson for YouTube said: “We terminated channels associated with Andrew Tate for multiple violations of our community guidelines and terms of service, including our hate speech policy. If a channel is terminated, the uploader is unable to use, own or create any other YouTube channels.”
In a clip which has now been deleted, Tate claimed he relocated to Romania to dodge criminal consequences for perpetrating sexual violence.
He says this is “probably 40 per cent of the reason” he decided to go to Romania, as he said: “I’m not a rapist, but I like the idea of just being able to do what I want. I like being free.” He also argued, back in 2017 on Twitter, that women should take “some responsibility” when they are sexually assaulted.
It comes a day after The Independent reported on campaigners’ warning that Tate has substantial connections with the far right which means the influencer is a danger to young men and teenage boys.
Hope not Hate argued Tate has been repeatedly accused of misogyny but his links to the far right are far less well-known. New research conducted by the organisation, which is calling for Tate to be removed from social media platforms, suggested the public is less aware of his “long history of racist statements, homophobia and links to the organised far-right”.
The influencer previously defended himself in comments to The Independent, saying he also makes “many videos praising women”.
He added: “It has nothing to do for hate for women. It’s simply about good and bad people. My mother is my hero. I play an online character and am brash and bravado but my views are pure and simply say to find the highest value men and women you can with good hearts.”
Tate was kicked off the 17th season of Big Brother in 2016 after footage emerged of him appearing to hit a woman with a belt. He responded by saying the behaviour was consensual.
Tate, who has seen a hashtag of his name accrue over 13 billion views on TikTok, states “women can’t drive”, and claims men can cheat whereas women are not allowed to do so, and previously referred to married women as “property” that their husbands own.
Tate has also been banned from Twitter for infringing its policies, but an account linked to Tate continues to appear on Amazon’s live-streaming service Twitch.
