YouTube accumulating millions of ad revenue from influencer Andrew Tate’s videos
‘Dehumanising, woman-hating content that encourages violence has no place on YouTube, the social media platform most used by children,’ says campaigner
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.YouTube is pulling in millions of ad revenue from videos of influencer Andrew Tate, new research has found.
The Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) unearthed 47 videos of the former kickboxer pushing what it describes as “extreme misogyny”, with nine of these clips identified as including paid advertisements from Vans footwear, Schwarzkopf hair products, and even Google Ad services among others.
It comes as Meta banned the 35-year-old, who is a self-avowed “success coach”, from Facebook and Instagram on Friday for infringing its rules.
Researchers identified ads on videos where Mr Tate refers to a partner who accused him of assault as “a dumb hoe”, with this clip gaining 12.8m views.
The report also unearthed ads on videos where Mr Tate discusses fighting women, saying “grip her up by the neck” in a video, which has been viewed 1.6 million times, as well as referring to putting his “imprint” on 18-19 year-old girls in footage which has accrued 8.4 million views. While another video where he states, “being a man” means “being territorial” of women, has been viewed 3.3 million times.
Three YouTube channels which feature ads and reshare footage of Mr Tate have accrued up to £3.4m in annual ad revenue by gathering 234 million views in total, approximates Social Blade, a social analytics firm.
Mr Tate’s so-called “Hustler’s University” is pushed in almost half of the YouTube videos the study unearthed. The so-called Hustler’s University is a private community Mr Tate runs which purports to “teach you exactly how to make money”.
Imran Ahmed, chief executive of the CCDH, said: “Dehumanising, woman-hating content that encourages violence has no place on YouTube, the social media platform most used by children.
“The mainstream brands who are having their ads placed on this content – including, ironically, Google – will be spitting mad that their brands are being associated with hate and violence.”
Commenting on the YouTube videos of Mr Tate, Mr Ahmed said: "But to learn, you have to be listening. They issue countless press releases touting their community standards, and yet when asked to back up their words with action, they fall short every single time.
”This is why we need the government to just get on with passing their Online Safety Bill and stop the dithering. This content is clearly harmful and it is perverse to continue to allow Big Tech to profit by encouraging violence against women and girls.”
Nick Lowles, of Hope not Hate, a campaign group, celebrated the news Mr Tate, whom he labelled a “misogynist”, had been banned from Facebook and Instagram.
“Amazing news!” Mr Lowles said. “Violent misogynist Andrew Tate has been removed from Facebook and Instagram (where he had 4 million followers). Twitter removed him this morning. Please sign the Hope not Hate petition to get other social media giants to remove him.”
Mr Tate, whose fame has grown considerably in recent weeks, has previously referred to married women as “property” that their husbands own.
The former Big Brother star, who has 4.6 million Instagram followers, claims women should “shut the f*** up, have kids, sit at home, be quiet and make coffee” in footage where he talks about feminism. While he argued women should take “some responsibility” when they are sexually assaulted back in 2017 on Twitter.
He was kicked off the 17th season of Big Brother in 2016 after footage emerged where Mr Tate appeared to be seen hitting a woman with a belt – with him responding to the video by saying the behaviour was consensual.
Mr Tate, who has seen a hashtag of his name accrue over 13 billion views on TikTok, states “women can’t drive”, as well as stating men can cheat whereas women are not allowed.
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.”
People have called for Mr Tate to be removed from all social media platforms in a petition which has gathered over 12,000 signatures.
The Independent has contacted YouTube for comment.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments