Giving Power to the Wrong People on Social Media
By Béline Chan
Technology is ever growing and improving, and there is no denying that it has influenced the way we view society and people. While social media can have a positive impact and enables creators to share their creative ideas, there are a lot of negatives that come along with it. One of the biggest issues that we face when it comes to social media is the power that negative influencers have. Influencers use social media as their platform to share their opinions and ideas, while gaining an audience and benefitting (usually financially) from it. Unfortunately, these public figures are not all positive. A recent controversy which has gained immense attention, which I’ll be discussing as an example, is the Andrew Tate situation. Tate’s videos sparked outrage online due to his misogynistic and violent opinions on how to treat women, which became widely popular on various apps. He has essentially used social media as a means of raising an army of misogynistic and violent men. Tate posted videos on social media platforms such as TikTok, YouTube and his podcast. I have watched his controversial videos for the sake of this article and here are some of the harmful things he has said about women:
[Trigger warning: hateful and violent speech towards women, mention of sexual assault]
“It’s bang out the machete, boom in her face and grip her by the neck”. Tate explicitly describes how women should be treated if men are cheated on. This so-called advice is violent and is not an appropriate nor rational way to treat someone for being unfaithful, yet it has been normalised by his followers online and he has been praised for doing so.
“I think the women belong to the man”. Tate believes that men own women, and that they have the right to do so. He sees women as nothing more than property, and property that men have the right to own and control. By spreading these ideas, he’s letting his followers believe that men should be in control of women, and that women should live silently with this.
“If you’re not going to have children, what are you going to do with your lives”, “When I speak to some of these feminists who’re like ‘I don’t want kids’, I think you are the most miserable stupid [_] in the world”. Tate’s mentality is ridiculously one-sided and backwards, as he believes that all women should stay at home to clean while the men go out to work, as if there is no importance when it comes to women having careers. He thinks that all women should have children and that it’s selfish to not have them. Aside from the fact that women have the right to not want or have children, he hasn’t even considered the fact that not everyone is in the right situation or mindset to have children, due to social, mental or financial situations. There are also many women who are happy being housewives as their own choice. But the issue is that Tate doesn’t want to give women that choice. He believes that it’s a must. Everything he says is one-sided, but he believes that he is fair, even though he dehumanises women. Women can’t work, but men can. Women should clean, and men shouldn’t. Women aren’t capable of being successful but men are. He wants to take the freedom away from women and is trying to find every reason to convince us that this is the way things should be, even though there is no way to justify this. Tate is so fixated on gender and the non-existent “rules” that everyone has to follow, that he isn’t able to think rationally.
It is evident by now that Tate has said a variety of hurtful and inappropriate things about women and unfortunately he has no limit. He has explicitly explained for various reasons, as to why he prefers younger girls (19 year olds) to someone older or his age “She’s fresh and I can put my imprint on her”. He uses predatory, vulgar and explicit language when he speaks about women, and he genuinely believes that what he’s saying is correct. On top of this, he believes that “If you put yourself in a position to be raped, you must bear some responsibility” and that “I’m not a rapist, but I like the idea of just being able to do what I want”. Consent is clearly not something he is capable of understanding, and he is teaching his followers that it’s okay to ignore it. This is a serious issue, as women are already at a higher risk of experiencing domestic violence, abuse and sexual assault. This is teaching men that they have the right to women’s bodies, that they have the right to be violent towards women, and that victims of sexual assault are the ones to blame. It is simply incomprehensible.
“Women cannot compete at the level men do” “Life as a man is far more difficult than life as a woman.” Tate is fixated on comparing gender roles, which leads me to believe that he was brought up in an environment where toxic masculinity was instilled in him, or he was put down for not being masculine enough.
His followers highly praise Tate for his ‘advice’ and declare their admiration loudly online with comments such as “This guy is spreading so much wisdom to the world. Truly inspiring” and “Tate is incredibly intelligent, his perspective on life is admirable”.
The question is, why weren’t his videos taken down immediately? Why was he allowed to continuously post content like this on the internet? Followers give him views and comments, in turn giving him more attention. Whether the comments on his videos support him or not, his videos gain more popularity and start to trend. The reactions such as shares, likes and comments boost his popularity online, and allow him to spread hateful videos like this. But why are people looking up to him? Why is someone who is spreading harmful ideas being seen as an influencer? Tate’s videos are generally directed at men, giving them “advice” on how to treat women in order to become a “real” man. It’s clear that the fans who follow him are insecure with their masculinity, and feel the need to prove that they’re a “real man” by controlling, dominating and mistreating women in order to be seen as authoritative. When videos like this are plastered over all social media platforms, it reaches an audience of all ages, and when young, impressionable men are being recommended “advice” videos for men who are going through a period of insecurity, this is what they truly believe is right. His viewers see how “successful” he is with his numerous girlfriends, his wealth and his overall lifestyle, and believe that they can reach or achieve what he has, by mistreating women. People on social media can be too easily influenced and are made to believe that they can achieve their “dream life” by following his violent and misogynistic ways. Tate purposely targeted young men who were struggling with their self-esteem, and became a role-model to them. This erases any sort of rational thinking for the audience, as they are desperate to reach the success and level of happiness that Tate has, ignoring the red flags that are being ingrained in them.
When influencers like Tate gain a supportive community, on top of being in the spotlight for controversy, the attention equals success for both the influencer and the social media apps. Social media platforms and Tate benefited from the controversy that he created, which led to the prolonged banning of Tate himself from social media platforms. Ultimately, the viewers, the fans and the social media platforms themselves, all contribute to the success and power of inappropriate influencers, which can spread harmful ideas to viewers. Social media platforms must have stricter rules in place for influencers, as public figures shouldn’t be getting a bypass for their behaviour just because of their social status. If videos made by problematic influencers were regulated more often, then inappropriate influencers that send dangerous messages could be minimised, instead of platforms benefiting financially from harmful controversies.