Former kickboxer and social media influencer Andrew Tate has recently been banned from all major social media platforms for his controversial views, primarily on women. Some believe this was an attack on free speech, but, to many, this was only the deplatforming of a hateful, threatening individual.

Tate’s controversial takes on women have garnered an astounding response from both supporters and detractors. Many fear the impact of Tate’s words on the minds of his predominantly young male audience. Given the progression of the feminist movement today, many feel that Tate’s deplatforming was for the best.

Those agreeing with the deplatforming argue that It is apparent that Tate is a misogynist, that he has demonstrated that he views women as objects to be used by men for their sexual appeal. On the BFFs podcast, Tate remarked, “You can’t be responsible for a dog if it doesn’t obey you, or a child if it doesn’t obey you, or a woman that doesn’t obey you.” Tate’s blatant comparison of women to dogs has been labeled dehumanizing as it pushes an outdated narrative in which women are inferior to men.

Tate even jokes with his audience about how women are just sources to make money. Part of his platform is dedicated to being a rich, successful businessman, but the sources of Tate’s income have been questioned. He even has been accused of not only engaging in the pimping, or prostitution, of women online, but has been accused of abusing the women involved in his pimping business. 

Many students see Tate as a sexist and exploitative man. “Tate is clearly a misogynist who takes advantage of women,” said Olympic Heights senior Ashley Pereira. OH senior Chloe Glass agreed, adding, “I believe Tate is a misogynistic man who has committed heinous crimes and incites violence through his beliefs.”

These students and many others know the narrative that Tate is trying to portray. It is one where the man in a relationship is the “protector” and the woman is the loyal, submissive concubine. Those who argue with Tate about his ancient mindset are called “woke” and then are bombarded by boasts of how many girlfriends Tate has or how successful he is, detracting from the subject. 

What is most frightening to many is who this narrative is being pushed on. “He has damaged so many boys’ minds, teaching them to discriminate [against] women,” explained Pereira. The young, impressionable boys who consume Tate’s content often do not realize the flawed ideas that he is preaching, which blindly instills into them bigotry and hatred.

Tate intentionally targets young boys on the internet to spread his content. He influenced them with right-leaning ideas and centered his content around how men should run relationships and be superior to their female counterparts. This can inappropriately empower these boys, and consequently, it can influence them to develop a hateful view of women who don’t fit the submissive archetype of Tate’s flawed narrative.

Tate is also accused of exploiting his young, male following for financial gain as well, notably through a “get rich quick” program he started called, “Hustlers University.” Starting the day after he was banned from Meta and TikTok, “Hustlers University 2.0,”  which has been labeled as a marketing scam, helped Tate go viral and boost his social media following. 

Many were quick to expose “Hustlers University 2.0” as a pyramid scheme, and it was shut down after Tate’s ban from social media, but he is already relaunching the program, newly dubbed “Hustlers University 3.0.” The program as a whole is ironic given that Tate teaches men to be strong and dominant, yet he seems to be leeching off those who are smaller than him for social media success.

Meta confirmed that Tate was banned from its platforms for violating company guidelines on “dangerous individuals and organizations.” He joins Donald Trump and Alex Jones in a brief list of individuals deplatformed online. He had already been banned from Twitter years prior when, in 2017, he tweeted at the dawn of the #MeToo movement that victims of sexual assault must also “bear some responsibility.”

Tate has been selling his “product” to media outlets willing to give him a platform since his social media ban. He recently made an appearance on The Tucker Carlson Show on Fox News, commenting on his deplatforming. He talked about the difficulties he apparently faced while “championing” men’s issues and how he considers his ban an attack on free speech. 

“I think that men’s issues are largely overlooked,” Tate told Carlson. “The people in charge of the world pretend to care, but when somebody who’s championing men’s issues like myself comes forward and finally manages to garner huge percentiles of the public support, I’m silenced.”

Tate is not hated for talking about men’s issues; he is hated for his “misogynistic rhetoric,” as Glass put it. His statements incite violence towards women. “Social media platforms were right to ban him because of his hateful bashing of women,” said Pereira. Both students agree that Tate’s ban was not a violation of free speech. Instead, they feel it prevented a prejudiced individual from spewing regressive hate speech about women. 

Right-leaning individuals such as Tate claim that “woke” individuals are weak-minded and complain about all of society’s issues. However, it was only after his deplatforming that Tate decided to stand up for the problems that affect him. He released a 73-minute video serving as a “final message” to his fans. He claimed the comments he was banned for were “taken out of context” and claimed to be a “victim” of his “own success,” according to NBC’s Today. 

Many OH students who support Tate and followed him before his deplatforming refused to comment, as they did not want to be associated with his name. This doesn’t mean that Tate’s message didn’t get across, but it is a display of how one can say something online but act differently in the real world. To an extent, it is clear that even some of Tate’s supporters recognize that many of his views are harmful.

Social media gave way for Tate to become an unfortunate role model for young boys. However, it is in their best interest following Tate’s deplatforming that his young followers do their own research and realize that their hero is, quite frankly, a zero. Hopefully, the younger generations of men who have fallen under Tate’s influence can see reform, and men and women can coexist equally.