Andrew Tate’s arrest on rape and human trafficking charges explained

Misogynist influence Andrew Tate, who he once said she moved from the UK to Romania because “rape laws are more lenient there”, and was arrested by Romanian authorities on December 29 on charges of rape and human trafficking.

Tate and his brother Tristan are suspected of recruiting victims for a criminal online porn scam, the country’s Directorate of Organized Crime and Terrorism Investigations, or DIICOT, said. In one translation said officials who made a statement to the press The Tates recruited victims by convincing them they were interested in real relationships, then moved them to homes where they were under constant surveillance and forced to act in pornographic videos under threats of violence. The videos will then be sold online.

Tate has already proudly admitted to some version of this: The self-proclaimed “king of toxic masculinity.” He informed the Daily Mirror about this he said he and his brother once ran a “total scam” business where 75 women were paid to talk to men for $4 a minute, with Tates pocketing most of the money. This kind of behavior is at the heart of Tate’s personal brand, and as a “straight-talking” con man who films himself with exotic sports cars and scantily clad models, wears a robe and smokes cigars, you can live by following his advice. life style.

Although Tate has gained fame over the years, his videos started gaining mainstream popularity last year, when clips of his angry diatribes and shady entrepreneurial advice regularly went viral on TikTok. Much of the conversation surrounding it concerns the panic over the welfare of boys and young people; during that time, middle and high school teachers reported a greater increase in sexual harassment and sexist hate speech by male students in their classrooms. In response, all major social media platforms banned his accounts, although Elon Musk-owned Twitter reinstated his account in November. (It is from 2017, Tate then tweeted According to Harvey Weinstein claims, “If you’re going to put yourself in a position to be molested, you should be naked. [sic] some responsibility.”)

The brashness of her brutality and her expensive-but-dirty aesthetic have made Tete the personification of a number of unfortunate stereotypes in modern internet culture: the anti-feminist exploiting the Me Too reaction, the grumpy dude with a podcast microphone, and the shilling guy. fraudulent pyramid scheme-affiliated enterprises. It also makes him very easy to mock, as happened on December 27 when he tweeted climate activist Greta Thunberg to brag about how terrible sports cars are for the environment. To which Thunberg responded, “yes, please enlighten me,” “Give me your email address to send me a complete list of my car collection and their respective colossal emissions. Email smalldickenergy@getalife.com.” (Now is the fourth most liked tweet of all time.)

It’s purely coincidental that this exchange happened just two days before his arrest, though the conspiracies have since multiplied: Tate responded to Thunberg with a video of herself next to a pizza box, and people guessed it because the location of the pizza shop was visible. a clue as to where he is. Romanian officials denied this That is the case, and that it has been investigating its properties since April 2022, although Thunberg referenced rumors in a tweet that read “this is what happens when you don’t recycle your pizza boxes.”

In the video of his arrest, Tate can be heard saying, “The Matrix attacked me.” As those familiar with the Manosphere or QAnon know, the sci-fi “red pill” concept has become synonymous with a number of right-wing neoreactionary beliefs: feminism has gone too far, “wokeness” is a serious moral threat to personal freedom, and democracy and basic democratic institutions inherently dubious (all of which is ironic, considering the directors’ intentions).

DIICOT has so far identified six victims who were sexually abused by the Tate group; did not specify which suspect was accused of rape. Tate, along with his brother is kept He spent 30 days in jail and has not yet been released despite fake news about TikTok.

The arrest has once again brought Andrew Tate’s name into the public debate, and with it the question of how to deal with boys and young men who have become accustomed to his rhetoric. Popular tweeted leftist Vaush, “I cannot emphasize enough that twelve-year-old white boys are not driven to fascism by a Machiavellian desire to protect and expand their privilege, because the right talks to them, the left talks to them.” It’s unclear what “Leftist Andrew Tate for teenage boys” will look like (anyone willing to embrace casual sexism? most of them!) or that mainstream or left-leaning culture ignores teenage boys, who continue to be one of the key demographics for movies, music, TV, and video games.

Instead, experts recommend that concerned parents or guardians talk with children about what they know about Tate and what they think about him. “It’s good for parents to remind kids that it might be funny to them, but it can have a negative effect on people because it’s threatening, scary and upsetting,” says a clinical psychologist and cyber safety trainer. This was reported to Australia’s ABC Radio. “What you can teach that kid is how to build your own confidence and security without embodying these really toxic traits, because there’s a difference between masculinity and toxic masculinity.”

There will always be scary, charismatic reactionaries willing to use algorithms that reward anger and prey on the young, the kids who still understand how the world works and their place in it. Tate is not one of a kind a single genius, and we should refrain from treating it as such. What’s important is that when people come across content like his – as compelling and controversial as it is – they can see through the bullshit.