Meta has banned influencer Andrew Tate from Facebook and Instagram for violating their policies.
The former kickboxer rose to fame in 2016 when he dropped out of the TV show Big Brother over a video that showed him attacking a woman. He later gained notoriety online and was banned by Twitter for saying that women should “take responsibility” for being sexually assaulted.
He had 4.7 million followers on Instagram when his account was deleted. That number had grown rapidly from around a million followers in June.
Meta said he had removed the kickboxing star from his platform for violating his policies on dangerous organizations and individuals but did not provide further details.
At the time of his removal from Big Brother, Tate said the video had been edited, calling it “a total lie trying to make me look bad.” He has yet to comment on Meta’s ban.
‘A genuine threat to young men
He has drawn criticism online for his comments, particularly from the UK advocacy group Hope Not to Hate, which welcomed the most recent ban.
Joe Mulhall, director of research at the group, said Mr Tate “poses a genuine threat to young men, radicalising them towards extremism misogyny, racism and homophobia”.
He added: “We’ve provided significant evidence to the major social media platforms, including Meta, about his activity and why he must be removed.
“We welcome Meta’s swift action to remove Andrew Tate, and we’ll pressure TikTok to follow this example. They must act now to prevent further spread of these extremist views.”
A TikTok spokesperson told the BBC: “Misogyny is a hateful ideology that is not tolerated on TikTok.
“We’ve been removing violative videos and accounts for weeks, and we welcome the news that other platforms are also taking action against this individual.”