Your not so innocent online misogyny could turn into violent femicide. Andrew Tate, the “King of Toxic Masculinity,” has been banned from Youtube, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok as of  Aug. 23. The ex-kickboxer rose to infamy by spitting misogynistic rhetoric on the internet and having his followers spread his message far and wide. 

Many social media outlets have banned Tate from their platforms for reasons pertaining to hate speech.  Tate has said previously, “If you put yourself in a position to be raped, you must bear some responsibility”, according to the BBC, and that he likes 18-19 year old girls because he can “make an imprint” on them, and that brothers and sisters have nothing to talk about because the genders are too different. 

His words have been deemed as extreme misogyny by multiple news outlets including the BBC and The Guardian and domestic abuse campaigners, who fear he’s radicalizing young boys and men on the internet. Allan Ball, the national director of the anti-violence against women organization, White Ribbon Australia, has said Tate’s messaging could result in real-life harm and violence toward women. 

Tate’s influence on the younger men who idolize him happen to be the biggest problem. With his fame, came a wave of toxic masculinity with young men up to 11 years old listening to his commentary. An Indy100 article reported on how a middle school teacher went viral on TikTok for warning against letting young boys watch him because they will take his misogyny and turn it on the girls around them by calling them fat and gold diggers. His little pack of followers consider themselves “alpha males” by taking Tate’s advice and disrespecting women. 

We’ve seen violent internet misogyny turn into real life harm towards women countless times with cases like the Trystan Bailey murder, where a 13-year-old girl was stabbed to death by a classmate after she rejected him. Also consider the infamous incel, Elliot Rodger who committed a “series of misogynistic terror attacks.”

Murders like this toward women aren’t uncommon and according to the UN, are actually increasing in numbers. In fact there’s a word for it: femicide. Femicide is officially defined as the “intentional killing of women or girls because they are female.” But according to the World Health Organization, broader definitions can include any killings of women and young girls. Comments like that of Tate saying how he would physically assault his partner if they accused him of cheating, can influence his followers to take his words and turn them on the women around them. 

Tate has proven himself a violent misogynist, everyone should be working to delete his content and wipe his hatred off the internet. Following and sharing content like Andrew Tate’s makes you part of the problem.