Meta - the company that owns the social media platforms Facebook and Instagram - has banned controversial influencer Andrew Tate.
As reported by BBC News, the decision was made after the social media giant deemed that Tate's content had violated its policies.
Tate, 35, initially rose to fame after becoming a contestant on the 17th season of the UK version of the reality TV show Big Brother back in 2016. However, per The Independent, he was ejected from the show after a video went viral of him online appearing to physically and verbally assault a woman.
At the time, Tate said that his actions in the video were consensual.
In recent years, Tate amassed millions of followers online. In fact, per Google Trends, people searched for Andrew Tate more than Donald Trump, Kim Kardashian, and Kylie Jenner between July 10 and July 23.
NBC News reports that Twitter permanently banned Tate's account back in 2017 after making inflammatory comments at the peak of the #MeToo movements, such as reportedly tweeting that women should "bare some responsibility" for being sexually assaulted.
More recently, Tate has been criticized for comments such as saying that he believes his sister is her husband's "property".
Now, Meta has stated that Tate has been banned from both its Facebook and Instagram platforms for violating its policies on dangerous organizations and individuals. No further details were provided.
At the time of his ban, Tate had 4.7 million followers on Instagram.
Tate was appearing on a live stream hosted by Twitch streamer Adin Ross shortly after his accounts were suspended. During the stream, he responded to Instagram's ban by saying he's got "good people on the case" and that he is "understanding" of the platform's position.
"It's not a big loss to me. It's not something I use too often," Tate added.
In a recent report, NBC News stated that videos on TikTok that contain the '#AndrewTate' hashtag have amassed more than 12.7 billion times.
However, in a statement to Forbes, TikTok officials have announced that the platform is conducting an investigation into misogynist content, removing "violative accounts and videos".
A statement from TikTok representatives reads: "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."
As of this writing, a Change.org petition calling for Tate's removal from TikTok has amassed more than 18,000 signatures.
