Andrew Tate has gained more than six million followers in the five months since his Twitter account was reinstated.
His profile spiked in popularity after he was detained in Romania and when he was put under house arrest.
The controversial influencer had 38,400 followers when his profile was brought back to the platform in November. Now, Tate has more than 6.4 million followers.
The popularity of Tate’s profile may be bringing in serious income for Twitter, with researchers estimating the platform could earn almost £10m in advertising revenue a year from Tate-generated traffic.
He was banned from the platform towards the end of October 2017 after posting inflammatory tweets, including one now-deleted post that said: “Next point, if you put yourself in a position to be raped, you must bare some responsibility. I’m not saying it’s OK you got raped.”
A number of banned accounts have been reinstated by Twitter CEO Elon Musk. Tate was among those brought back on 18 November 2022.
The influencer marked his return by posting a photo of himself.
His account went from less than 40,000 followers to one million within 48 hours, archived screenshots of Tate’s account show.
Tate’s profile has continued to grow in popularity: a month on from his account being reinstated, his follow count had almost hit three million followers.
Image: Andrew Tate had almost gained 3 million followers after a month back on Twitter. Pic: Twitter
Tate, a British-US citizen, was arrested on 29 December in Romania and faces allegations of sexual assault, exploitation, organised crime and human trafficking – all of which he denies.
Hundreds of thousands of users decided to follow Tate that day. His follower count rose from 3.4 million to 3.8 million in 24 hours. He hit four million followers by 31 December.
His popularity spiked again after he was taken out of prison and put under house arrest on 31 March. He gained half a million followers that day.
At the time of writing, Tate has 6.4 million followers, meaning that on average Tate has gained around 40,000 followers a day since 18 November.
The rate at which Tate has gained followers appears to be unusually high.
Jordan B Peterson is another controversial online figure who was suspended from Twitter but brought back by Mr Musk on the same day as Tate.
Image: Dr Peterson’s follower list has grown from 3 million on 18 November to 4.1 million today. Pic: Twitter
He had three million followers when he was brought back and now has 4.1 million.
Another comparison can be made with climate activist Greta Thunberg, who was embroiled in a high-profile Twitter argument with Tate at the time of his arrest.
Image: Ms Thunberg now has 5.8 million followers, compared to 5.1 million on 29 December. Pic: Twitter
Between 29 December and 5 December, Tate’s profile gained almost a million followers. Ms Thunberg gained 600,000 in the same time period. Today her follow count stands at 5.8 million, having been outstripped by Tate.
The follower account of some high-profile users are inflated by bots, which are automated profiles that can be either purchased to artificially boost a profile’s popularity or may be present without the person’s consent or knowledge.
Changes to some of Twitter’s technology under Mr Musk means that researchers are now unable to test for suspected bots on the same scale as before, meaning it is not possible to check Tate’s entire follower list for bots.
But free software from Norton, a cyber-protection company, enables users to see in real time whether a Twitter profile may be a bot, with users highlighted in red being suspect.
Sky News ran the BotSight software over the first 100 profiles that recently followed Tate as a small sample.
Around half appeared to be genuine accounts, a quarter were questionable and a quarter were suspicious. None are confirmed as bot accounts.
Tate’s popularity on Twitter may be bringing in significant money to the platform, according to the Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH).
The centre’s research, shared exclusively with Sky News, found that Twitter stands to make an estimated £9.8m a year in advertising revenue from Tate’s account alone, prompting researchers to argue this could be why controversial accounts have been allowed back on the platform.
Callum Hood, CCDH’s head of research, told Sky News: “Twitter has made a deliberate decision to reinstate Andrew Tate – and many other extremist accounts – for business reasons.
“Because it is the only mainstream platform where you can still find Andrew Tate’s personal account, it has now become a must-see attraction for his cult-like following.
“By simply offering him a platform, Twitter is giving him all the legitimacy and exposure he needs to attract an army of new followers.”
The CCDH found that Tate’s tweets generate an estimated average of 35 million “impressions” a day (how often a tweet is seen), based on more than a month’s worth of his postings.
They used this data, along with their research into how often adverts appear and how much Twitter adverts cost, to estimate Twitter’s potential Tate-related earnings.
Tate’s other social media accounts are not seeing the same level of popularity as his Twitter.
The influencer still has two channels on Rumble, a free-speech video streaming platform. The more popular one has 1.16 million followers and has only gained 295,000 followers in the time Tate has been back on Twitter.
Image: Andrew Tate’s main Rumble account is not as popular as his Twitter profile. Pic: Rumble
Social media expert Matt Navarra explained to Sky News why there is such a big difference in Tate’s follower count on the two social media platforms.
He said: “Platforms like Rumble and others have much, much smaller users bases and are considered to be alternative social platforms which are only of appeal to those with fringe interests. It’s kind of like a second home for those that have been banned everywhere else.
“It’s no surprise to me that you won’t have seen such an explosive growth there compared to somewhere like Twitter that’s got hundreds of millions of users and is considered by most the mainstream, broad-appeal and broad-interest social platform.”
Sky News attempted to contact Twitter’s press office in relation to this article. The company did not reply, only sending an automatic email containing a poo emoji in response, which is the current default reply to all messages to the press office.
The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.
The court ruled to uphold the impeachment saying the conservative leader “violated his duty as commander-in-chief by mobilising troops” when he declared martial law.
The president was also said to have taken actions “beyond the powers provided in the constitution”.
Image: Demonstrators stayed overnight near the constitutional court. Pic: AP
Supporters and opponents of the president gathered in their thousands in central Seoul as they awaited the ruling.
The 64-year-old shocked MPs, the public and international allies in early December when he declared martial law, meaning all existing laws regarding civilians were suspended in place of military law.
Image: The court was under heavy police security guard ahead of the announcement. Pic: AP
After suddenly declaring martial law, Mr Yoon sent hundreds of soldiers and police officers to the National Assembly.
He has argued that he sought to maintain order, but some senior military and police officers sent there have told hearings and investigators that Mr Yoon ordered them to drag out politicians to prevent an assembly vote on his decree.
His presidential powers were suspended when the opposition-dominated assembly voted to impeach him on 14 December, accusing him of rebellion.
The unanimous verdict to uphold parliament’s impeachment and remove Mr Yoon from office required the support of at least six of the court’s eight justices.
South Korea must hold a national election within two months to find a new leader.
Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, is the early favourite to become the country’s next president, according to surveys.
While the UK’s FTSE 100 closed down 1.55% and the continent’s STOXX Europe 600 index was down 2.67% as of 5.30pm, it was American traders who were hit the most.
All three of the US’s major markets opened to sharp losses on Thursday morning.
Image: The S&P 500 is set for its worst day of trading since the COVID-19 pandemic. File pic: AP
By 8.30pm UK time (3.30pm EST), The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 3.7%, the S&P 500 opened with a drop of 4.4%, and the Nasdaq composite was down 5.6%.
Compared to their values when Donald Trump was inaugurated, the three markets were down around 5.6%, 8.7% and 14.4%, respectively, according to LSEG.
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Worst one-day losses since COVID
As Wall Street trading ended at 9pm in the UK, two indexes had suffered their worst one-day losses since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The S&P 500 fell 4.85%, the Nasdaq dropped 6%, and the Dow Jones fell 4%.
It marks Nasdaq’s biggest daily percentage drop since March 2020 at the start of COVID, and the largest drop for the Dow Jones since June 2020.
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‘Trust in President Trump’
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told CNN earlier in the day that Mr Trump was “doubling down on his proven economic formula from his first term”.
“To anyone on Wall Street this morning, I would say trust in President Trump,” she told the broadcaster, adding: “This is indeed a national emergency… and it’s about time we have a president who actually does something about it.”
Later, the US president told reporters as he left the White House that “I think it’s going very well,” adding: “The markets are going to boom, the stock is going to boom, the country is going to boom.”
He later said on Air Force One that the UK is “happy” with its tariff – the lowest possible levy of 10% – and added he would be open to negotiations if other countries “offer something phenomenal”.
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Economist warns of ‘spiral of doom’
The turbulence in the markets from Mr Trump’s tariffs “just left everybody in shock”, Garrett Melson, portfolio strategist at Natixis Investment Managers Solutions in Boston, told Reuters.
He added that the economy could go into recession as a result, saying that “a lot of the pain, will probably most acutely be felt in the US and that certainly would weigh on broader global growth as well”.
Meanwhile, chief investment officer at St James’s Place Justin Onuekwusi said that international retaliation is likely, even as “it’s clear countries will think about how to retaliate in a politically astute way”.
He warned: “Significant retaliation could lead to a tariff ‘spiral of doom’ that could be the growth shock that drags us into recession.”
It comes as the UK government published a long list of US products that could be subject to reciprocal tariffs – including golf clubs and golf balls.
Running to more than 400 pages, the list is part of a four-week-long consultation with British businesses and suggests whiskey, jeans, livestock, and chemical components.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said on Thursday that the US president had launched a “new era” for global trade and that the UK will respond with “cool and calm heads”.
It also comes as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a 25% tariff on all American-imported vehicles that are not compliant with the US-Mexico-Canada trade deal.
He added: “The 80-year period when the United States embraced the mantle of global economic leadership, when it forged alliances rooted in trust and mutual respect and championed the free and open exchange of goods and services, is over. This is a tragedy.”
Donald Trump has announced a 10% trade tariff on all imports from the UK – as he unleashed sweeping tariffs across the globe.
Speaking at a White House event entitled “Make America Wealthy Again”, the president held up a chart detailing the worst offenders – which also showed the new tariffs the US would be imposing.
“This is Liberation Day,” he told a cheering audience of supporters, while hitting out at foreign “cheaters”.
He claimed “trillions” of dollars from the “reciprocal” levies he was imposing on others’ trade barriers would provide relief for the US taxpayer and restore US jobs and factories.
Mr Trump said the US has been “looted, pillaged, raped, plundered” by other nations.
Image: Pic: AP
His first tariff announcement was a 25% duty on all car imports from midnight – 5am on Thursday, UK time.
Mr Trump confirmed the European Union would face a 20% reciprocal tariff on all other imports. China’s rate was set at 34%.
The UK’s rate of 10% was perhaps a shot across the bows over the country’s 20% VAT rate, though the president’s board suggested a 10% tariff imbalance between the two nations.
It was also confirmed that further US tariffs were planned on some individual sectors including semiconductors, pharmaceuticals and critical mineral imports.
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The ramping up of duties promises to be painful for the global economy. Tariffs on steel and aluminium are already in effect.
The UK government signalled there would be no immediate retaliation.
Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said: “We will always act in the best interests of UK businesses and consumers. That’s why, throughout the last few weeks, the government has been fully focused on negotiating an economic deal with the United States that strengthens our existing fair and balanced trading relationship.
“The US is our closest ally, so our approach is to remain calm and committed to doing this deal, which we hope will mitigate the impact of what has been announced today.
“We have a range of tools at our disposal and we will not hesitate to act. We will continue to engage with UK businesses including on their assessment of the impact of any further steps we take.
“Nobody wants a trade war and our intention remains to secure a deal. But nothing is off the table and the government will do everything necessary to defend the UK’s national interest.”
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The EU has pledged to retaliate, which is a problem for Northern Ireland.
Should that scenario play out, the region faces the prospect of rising prices because all its imports are tied to EU rules under post-Brexit trading arrangements.
It means US goods shipped to Northern Ireland would be subject to the EU’s reprisals.
The impact of a trade war would be expected to be widely negative, with tit-for-tat tariffs risking job losses, a ramping up of prices and cooling of global trade.
Research for the Institute for Public Policy Research has suggested more than 25,000 direct jobs in the UK car manufacturing industry alone could be at risk from the tariffs on car exports to the US.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) had said the tariff costs could not be absorbed by manufacturers and may lead to a review of output.
The tariffs now on UK exports pose a big risk to growth and the so-called headroom Chancellor Rachel Reeves was forced to restore to the public finances at the spring statement, risking further spending cuts or tax rises ahead to meet her fiscal rules.
A member of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), David Miles, told MPs on Tuesday that US tariffs at 20% or 25% maintained on the UK for five years would “knock out all the headroom the government currently has”.
But he added that a “very limited tariff war” that the UK stays out of could be “mildly positive”.
He said: “There’s a bit of trade that will get diverted to the UK, and some of the exports from China, for example, that would have gone to the US, they’ll be looking for a home for them in the rest of the world.
“And stuff would be available in the UK a bit cheaper than otherwise would have been. So there is one, not central scenario at all, which is very, very mildly potentially positive to the UK. All the other ones which involve the UK facing tariffs are negative, and they’re negative to very different extents.”