YouTube joins Facebook in banning Andrew Tate

YouTube has banned influencer Andrew Tate for violating its policies.

The Google-owned social media site took action following Meta's decision to ban Mr Tate from Facebook and Instagram.

The former kickboxer rose to fame in 2016 when he was removed from TV show Big Brother over a video which appeared to depict him attacking a woman.

He went on  to realize  notoriety online - with Twitter banning him for saying women should "bear responsibility" for being sexually assaulted.

At the time of his removal from Big Brother, in 2016, Mr Tate said the controversial video had been edited, calling it "a total lie trying  to form  me look bad".

Google, which owns YouTube, told the BBC: "We terminated channels  related to  Andrew Tate for multiple violations of our Community Guidelines and Terms of Service, including our hate speech policy.

"If a channel is terminated, the uploader is unable to use, own or create  the other  YouTube channels."

Mr Tate's YouTube channels had  quite  a million followers between them.

'Hateful ideology'

TikTok has also banned an account belonging to Mr Tate as  a part of  an ongoing investigation to remove content that violates its policies.

A TikTok spokesperson told the BBC: "Misogyny  may be a  hateful ideology that is not tolerated on TikTok.

"We've been removing violative videos and accounts for weeks,  and that we  welcome the news that other platforms are also taking action against this individual."

On Instagram, Tate had 4.7 million followers at the time his account was removed. That number had grown rapidly from around  a million  followers in June.

Meta said it had removed the kickboxing star from its platforms for violating its policies on dangerous organisations and individuals, but  didn't  provide further details.

The BBC has approached Mr Tate for comment.

Analysis

By Marianna Spring, disinformation and social media correspondent

Andrew Tate's videos - promoting misogyny and targeting women - have come to prominence this summer, with many teens commenting on just  what proportion  he's appearing on their social media feeds.

His content has raised concerns about the real-world effect it could have, especially on the younger users exposed  thereto  during their school holidays when they have time on their hands.

The focus has been primarily on TikTok, where users say  they have been  readily served up his videos - sparking a new wave of videos commenting on and criticising Mr Tate's content.

YouTube has also found itself  struggling , since it's where he has racked up  many  views.

I revealed how social media sites promote anti-women hate for BBC Panorama. The investigations exposed how some platforms' algorithms were recommending more and more misogyny to a troll account.

Since then, several sites have made commitments  to raised  protect female users. But,  once more , questions are being raised about the role social media sites play in pushing anti-women content.

Mr Tate has drawn criticism online for his comments, particularly from UK advocacy group Hope Not Hate, which welcomed Meta's ban last week.

Joe Mulhall, director of research at the group, said Mr Tate "poses  a real  threat to young men, radicalising them towards extremism misogyny, racism and homophobia".

He added: "We've provided significant evidence to  the main  social media platforms, including Meta, about his activity and why he must be removed."

'Absolutely a misogynist'

Videos about Mr Tate have proved popular across social media platforms, particularly on TikTok where videos using the #AndrewTate hashtag  are  viewed more than 12.7 billion times.

But this number represents not just videos of Tate and his supporters - it also includes videos made by people criticising the influencer.

On YouTube,  a number of  his most popular videos have had millions of views.

In one video, during which he was interviewed by another YouTuber, he said he was "absolutely a misogynist", adding: "I'm a realist and when  you are a  realist you're sexist.  there is no  way you can be rooted in reality and not be sexist."

Later  within the  same video he called women "intrinsically lazy" and said there was "no such thing as an independent female".

In a different video, Mr Tate said: "If  i've got  responsibility over her, then  i need to  have a degree of authority."

He added: "You  cannot be  responsible for a dog if it doesn't obey you."