Controversial social media influencer Andrew Tate should be “held accountable” if he is encouraging violence against women, a former director of public prosecutions has said.
A court heard Kyle Clifford’s murders were fuelled by the “violent misogyny promoted” by Tate, with the triple killer having searched for Tate’s podcast less than 24 hours before the attacks.
The 26-year-old former soldier became “enraged” when his 25-year-old ex-girlfriend Louise Hunt ended their 18-month relationship – which led to him plotting the “carefully planned and executed” murders of her, her sister Hannah Hunt and mother Carol Hunt on July 9 last year.
Downing Street said the Government is committed to “cracking down” on people pushing harmful beliefs “including extreme misogyny”.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Lord Ken Macdonald said “a lot of what (Tate) says online is illegal” and that enforcement of laws such as encouraging violence against women and girls should be improved.
He told the broadcaster: “It’s the definitions which are always difficult when one’s dealing with content that’s lawful but harmful.
“The point about someone like Andrew Tate is it seems to me that a lot of what he says online is illegal, is criminal in any event.
“I mean, encouraging violence against women and girls, encouraging sexual assault, encouraging physical abuse, is a criminal offence, and I think this is a problem of enforcement as much as creating new laws, we may need some new laws, but let’s enforce the ones we’ve got.
“If he’s encouraging this sort of behaviour, he’s breaking UK criminal law, and he ought to be held accountable for it, and I’m afraid at the moment, he hasn’t been held accountable for it.”
Tate, alongside his brother Tristan Tate, are facing criminal proceedings in both Romania and the UK on charges such as human trafficking and rape – which both men “unequivocally deny” – while a criminal investigation has recently been launched into the pair in Florida.
Asked whether Sir Keir Starmer was “concerned” that triple murderer Kyle Clifford had searched for content from Andrew Tate before committing his crimes, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “The Home Secretary has committed to cracking down on people pushing harmful and hateful beliefs, including extreme misogyny.
“The Prime Minister and the Home Secretary have spoken about this issue recently. Companies should provide safe experiences for everyone online and ensure there are no havens for illegal content.
“From this month, platforms are required under the Online Safety Act to remove illegal content, including violent material, to protect communities from online harms and this includes content that often targets women and girls.”
But Downing Street declined to be drawn on calls for Tate’s extradition from the United States, saying it would not comment on live criminal cases.
The spokesman added: “The principle is very clear, justice must be done in all cases.”
Former culture secretary Baroness Nicky Morgan said Clifford’s murders show harmful online content can “transform” into physical harm.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Baroness Morgan said: “I think what this case proves, and the mention of him having watched these videos, are a couple of things that those of us who campaigned on the Online Safety Act have known for some time, which is that undoubtedly, so-called legal content can absolutely be deeply, deeply harmful to others, and that the harmful content that people see online can absolutely transform and transfer to physical, offline harm.
“And so I think for the Online Safety Act, there’s always been the challenge about how will Ofcom make sure that the platforms are taking responsibility for the content that they are hosting.
“And I think in this case, interestingly, yes, there was a video, but I think a lot of the Tate content is now delivered via podcasts, and I think that’s a whole new area for the regulator to have to look at.”
Four alleged victims of Tate, who are taking legal action against him in the UK’s High Court, have called on social media companies to ban him from their platforms.
In a statement, the four women, who elected to take civil action after the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decided not to prosecute in 2019, said: “Hearing that Kyle Clifford watched videos of Andrew Tate in the lead-up to his murders of his ex-girlfriend, her mother and sister, is deeply upsetting to us, but sadly not surprising.
“This should be a wake-up call for all the social media companies who are continuing to platform Tate and his dangerous messages.
“These companies should take immediate steps to remove Andrew Tate from their platforms, rather than continue to reap enormous profits from his hateful content.
“Clifford’s case should be a warning to world leaders and all those who belittle the seriousness of allowing incitement of violence against women online fester. Our thoughts are with Hunt family.”.
