Andrew Tate Breaking News: Influencer Accused of Human Trafficking Continues to Reach Millions Despite Arrest

A court in Romania’s capital Bucharest has rejected an appeal by divisive social media personality Andrew Tate against the seizure of assets by prosecutors investigating him on charges of being part of an organized crime group and human trafficking, an official said.

Ramona Bolla, a spokeswoman for Romania’s anti-organized crime agency DIICOT, said that in a hearing Wednesday in a Bucharest court, Tate lost an appeal challenging prosecutors’ seizure of assets, including real estate and a fleet of luxury cars.

The court “ruled that the seizures are legal and (that) the goods remain at our disposal”, she told the Associated Press.

Prosecutors investigating the case have so far seized 15 luxury cars – 11 in December raids and four last week – at least seven of which are owned by the Tate brothers, as well as more than 10 properties and land owned by companies registered to them.

Bolla said it is not clear if any assets seized since December were included in Wednesday’s appeal.

Misogynistic internet personality Andrew Tate has been held by police in Romania since December 29, but his Twitter account has continued to post the former kickboxer’s special brand of conspiracy-laden content to his 4.5 million followers.

Several tweets have referred to the arrest of the controversial influencer alongside his brother on charges of human trafficking, rape and organized crime, with cryptic references to a so-called “Matrix” allegedly working against him.

Other tweets follow the pattern established after Mr Tate’s once-banned account returned last year, with a mix of religious quotes, challenges to the masculinity of his fans, warnings against alleged powers and advertisements for other content.

The account continued to be active even as Tate and his brother were in a plea hearing on Tuesday, sharing posts with messages of support for the couple.

Hafsa Lodihis view on Andrew Tate’s adoption of Islam: Is that him? The shiny bald head, groomed beard and gradient ‘I’m a Celebrity’ sunglasses are unmistakable. A four-minute long clip of Andrew Tate, a controversial figure known for making vulgar and provocative statements about women, has infiltrated the intimate confines of my smartphone through a forwarded WhatsApp video. Prior to this, I’ve actively avoided researching or discussing Tate, despite his social media notoriety – I’d hate to give more airtime to the self-proclaimed misogynist who is already one of the most Googled people on the internet.

But this time I give in, and a quick search leads me to the original video, which was posted on YouTube a year ago by a “male self-improvement” podcast hosted by “Womanizer Wednesdays.” In the three-hour interview, Tate spews out some twisted and simplistic statements about Islam in his apparent attempt to praise the religion.

The lawyer representing social media personality Andrew Tate has claimed there is “no evidence” to support allegations of human trafficking, rape or organized crime against him.

Online misogynist Andrew Tate lost his appeal on Tuesday against a judge’s earlier decision to extend the detention period from 24 hours to 30 days on charges of being part of an organized crime group, human trafficking and rape.

The 36-year-old social media influencer was initially detained on December 29 in an area north of the capital Bucharest along with his brother Tristan, who is charged in the same case. Two Romanian suspects are also in custody.

All four challenged the extension of detention that was granted to the prosecutor on 30 December.

After the court rejected their appeal, the defendants could now be detained for up to 180 days under Romanian law.

Sufyan Ahmed argues that Andrew Tate should be deleted from social media: Teachers across the country have raised the alarm about how Tate has effectively radicalized a generation of young men and fueled misogyny in the classroom.

They have noticed an increase in sexist incidents with many students referencing Tate’s ideas and have distanced themselves from his slogans.

Also, male students become hostile when issues such as gender equality are discussed in the classroom.

Tate seems to have succeeded in tapping into feelings of loneliness and anger among young men who have been mis-sold the lie that they are somehow “losing power” due to changing gender relations.

They approach Tate and see him as a male role model because of his material success. Without solutions to protect vulnerable, impressionable men of my generation, my fear is that Tate will continue to have a lasting negative influence.

So what do we do? Well, deplatforming is a controversial tool to counter the spread of these ideas, but evidence shows it works.

After many social media platforms pulled the plug on Tate’s accounts, Google searches for his name dropped by about 60 percent. Subsequently, other creators feared including him in their content in case their accounts suffered the same fate. However, this is not the silver bullet.

Social media platforms need to do more, especially with algorithms.

Users on TikTok have been bombarded with content about Tate if they just watch a men’s health video, as the platform tailors what it sends to young men. And we already know that Tate has significant connections with far-right organisations.

The news of Andrew Tate’s arrest has been met with relief by many hoping that this will end his relevance. But in my view (and experience) the damage is done. Tate’s views, amplified by social media, have already led to large numbers of young men of my generation being manipulated, and without urgent intervention we may end up with a lost generation of young men. Let me tell you what I have seen.

There is no doubting the enormous reach Tate achieved. He was the most Googled man in the summer of 2022. Videos with his hashtag have amassed 13 billion views on TikTok. His mentoring scheme currently has 160,000 paying subscribers.

Once you delve into what Tate preaches to the masses, his social media reach is terrifying. Tate has made comments such as “women have some responsibility for rape”; has compared women to dogs and proudly admitted in a video with another YouTuber to being an “absolute misogynist”, stating that he was indeed a “realist” and “when you’re a realist, you’re sexist”. The amplification of these views should alarm everyone.

Extreme online men and their toxic fellow travelers have discovered a new way to avoid the consequences of their own actions, by turning to one of the greatest sci-fi films of the 1990s for inspiration (Richard Hall write).

Logan Paul this week joined the unfortunate company of Andrew Tate and Elon Musk in blaming “The Matrix” for his own personal misfortunes.

Using The Matrix as a byword for consequences was popularized by Andrew Tate, the misogynist provocateur who was recently arrested in Romania on charges of human trafficking and rape.

The 36-year-old served a captive online audience of young impressionable men with promises to help them “escape the Matrix” if they paid a monthly fee to join his Hustler’s University online academy, which teaches lessons in crypto investing and drop shipping and has been described as a pyramid scheme.

A court in Romania’s capital Bucharest has rejected an appeal by divisive social media personality Andrew Tate against asset seizures by prosecutors investigating him on charges of being part of an organized crime group and human trafficking, an official said on Wednesday.

In a hearing Wednesday in Bucharest court, Tate lost an appeal challenging assets seized by prosecutors, including real estate and a fleet of luxury cars, said Ramona Bolla, a spokeswoman for Romania’s anti-organized crime agency DIICOT.

The court “ruled that the seizures are legal and [that] the goods remain at our disposal,” she told the Associated Press.

Prosecutors investigating the case have so far seized 15 luxury cars – 11 in December raids and four last week – of which at least seven are owned by the Tate brothers, and more than 10 properties and land owned by companies registered to them. Bolla said it is not clear if any assets seized since December were included in Wednesday’s appeal.

Mr Tate has amassed millions of followers on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and TikTok over the past decade.

But he has also seen his accounts banned because of provocative statements he has made, often appearing to advocate violence against women, which the platforms believed violated their policies.

Joe Sommerlad charts his journey here: