Calls to remove Andrew Tate from TikTok over ‘rape culture’ videos

TikTok is facing escalated calls to remove former Big Brother contestant Andrew Tate from the platform amid fears his content is “normalising violence” against women.

According to Andrew Tate, women “belong in the home”, “can’t drive”, and are a “man’s property”.

The former Big Brother contestant and kickboxer only dates women aged 18 to 19 because he can “make an imprint” on them, according to videos posted online. He respects former US President Donald Trump because he’s “grabbin’ b**ches by the p**sy” and “I like that”.

He thinks that women should “bear some responsibility” if they’ve been raped – an opinion he first shared in 2017 and has since repeated.

“It’s bang out the machete, boom in her face and grip her by the neck. Shut up b**ch,” he says in one video, acting out how he’d attack a woman if she accused him of cheating.

In another, he calls an ex-girlfriend who accused him of hitting her – an allegation he denies – a “dumb hoe”.

Tate’s views might sound like those of a fringe personality – but the 35-year-old British-American has gone from near-obscurity to, in recent months, one of the most famous figures on TikTok in the world.

Videos of him making these comments and various others like it have been watched over 11.6 billion times; on Instagram, he has 3.4 million followers and 1.4 million on TikTok. In July, more people searched his name on Google than those of Kim Kardashian or Donald Trump.

It’s for this reason that there are growing calls from domestic and sexual violence experts and advocacy groups to remove Tate from the social media platform, amid fears his “misogynistic” comments could be “normalising violence” against women, and are capable of radicalising men and boys to commit harm offline.

TikTok is facing calls to remove videos of Andrew Tate over fears his ‘misogynistic’ comments could be ‘normalising violence’ against women. Picture: Instagram

The former Big Brother contestant believes women ‘belong in the home’, ‘can’t drive’ and are a ‘man’s property’. Picture: Instagram

“Men and boys regularly watching and listening to negative presentations of masculinity may begin to adopt these attitudes and behaviours, believing that they are acting as the ‘ideal man’,” a spokeswoman for White Ribbon UK, which looks to end male violence against women, told the Daily Mail.

“This relates to being seen a tough, aggressive and suppressing emotion. These traits feed into gender norms, what ‘being a man’ and ‘being a woman’ is. Gender inequality is a direct result of traditional and negative stereotypes which confine women’s and men’s roles in society.

“Not only does this create a lot of pressure on men and boys, often affecting their mental health and self-image, it also creates dangerous cultures and environments for women and girls to exist in.

“Sexist and derogatory comments exist on the same spectrum as controlling behaviour and physical and sexual violence, which creates environments where men go on to murder women.”

Footage of Tate has been viewed more than 11.6 billion times. Picture: TikTok

His name was googled more than Kim Kardashian’s or Donald Trump’s in July. Picture: TikTok

Long before his rise to TikTok fame, Tate’s views on women have been clear.

This a man who, in 2017, was charged by British police with 11 cases regarding sexual assault. Last April, his home was visited by Romanian police regarding allegations that a woman was being detained there against her will, was being trafficked, and had been raped (allegations he has denied). That investigation appears to be ongoing.

In a 2018 Facebook post, he bemoaned the “decline of Western civilisation” after seeing a poster at London’s Heathrow Airport “encouraging girls to go on holiday as opposed to encouraging being a loving mother and a loyal wife”.

He was evicted from the Big Brother house in 2016 when a video emerged of him hitting a woman with a belt; a second, released shortly after, showed him telling a different woman to count the bruises he apparently caused her. Both Tate and the women denied any abuse occurred, and said the clips showed consensual sex.

His rise on TikTok – which has largely been perpetuated by fan accounts sharing his most controversial clips in order to achieve maximum views and engagement, a recent investigation by The Observer found – has led some to deem him “the scariest man on the internet”.

One woman, seeking advice in a forum, described how boyfriend’s “attitude and opinions” had changed “dramatically” after watching Tate’s content.

By taking no action, TikTok is ‘facilitating and ultimately profiting from the potential radicalisation of its young male users’. Picture: Instagram

“It’s up to TikTok to be on the lookout for harmful content and manipulation of its platform.” Picture: TikTok

‘Why haven’t [TikTok] noticed this? And why have they failed to act?’ one asked. Picture: Instagram

Director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition, Andrea Simon, told The Observer that many of the Tate videos appeared to “clearly violate” TikTok’s terms and said that “by taking no action”, the platform was “facilitating and ultimately profiting from the potential radicalisation of its young male users”.

“The dangerous thing is that it is very eye-catching content, and the TikTok algorithm in particular is so aggressive that you only need to pause for a few moments before it will begin to recommend similar content to you again and again,” head of research at the Centre for Digital Hate, Callum Hood, added.

“It’s up to TikTok to be on the lookout for harmful content and manipulation of its platform. It begs the question: ‘Why haven’t they noticed this? And why have they failed to act?’”

A TikTok spokesperson told the Daily Mail that “misogyny and other hateful ideologies and behaviours are not tolerated on TikTok, and we are working to review this content and take action against violations of our guidelines”.

“We continually look to strengthen our policies and enforcement strategies, including adding more safeguards to our recommendation system, as part of our work to keep TikTok a safe and inclusive space for our community," they added.

Originally published as Calls to remove Andrew Tate from TikTok over ‘rape culture’ videos