Andrew Tate: How the arrest of controversial influencer has impacted his Twitter following
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.
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.
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.
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.
He is currently still banned from Instagram, Facebook and YouTube, although a recent Sky News investigation found his content was pushed to a “test” teenager’s account after a little more than an hour on YouTube Shorts.
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.
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.
A new aid system has opened its first distribution centres in Gaza, according to a US-backed organisation dealing with supplies.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) began its operations in the territory on Monday, following the resignation of its director, Jake Wood, over its independence.
Gaza’s 2.3m population has been pushed towards famine by Israel’s almost three-month blockade.
Boxes of aid to be distributed across Rafah. Pic: Reuters.
The GHF said lorryloads of food – it did not say how many – had been delivered to its hubs, and distribution to Palestinians had begun.
“More trucks with aid will be delivered tomorrow, with the flow of aid increasing each day,” it said in a statement.
The controversial group, backed by Israel and the United States, has been rejected by the United Nations and other aid groups.
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People line up for food in Gaza
UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the GHF.
They claim Israel is weaponising food, and the new distribution system will be ineffective and lead to further displacement of Palestinians.
They also argue the GHF will fail to meet local needs, and violates humanitarian principles that prohibit a warring party from controlling humanitarian assistance.
In the meantime, scores of Palestinians in Gaza, like Islam Abu Taima, have resorted to searching through rubbish to find food.
Palestinians are having to search through rubbish to find food
She found a small pile of cooked rice, scraps of bread, and a box with a few pieces of cheese inside it – which she said she will serve to her five children.
“We’re dying of hunger,” she told the Associated Press news agency.
“If we don’t eat, we’ll die.”
Islam Abu Taeima finds a piece of bread in a pile of rubbish in Gaza City. Pic: AP.
It is unclear how many of the GHF’s aid trucks will enter Gaza.
It claims it will reach one million Palestinians by the end of the week.
There are questions, however, over who is funding it and how it will work.
Trucks transporting aid for Palestinians in Rafah. Pic: Reuters.
It has been set up as part of an Israeli plan – rather than a UN distribution effort.
Israel, which suggested a similar plan earlier this year, has said it will not be involved in distributing the aid but supported the plan and would provide security.
It says aid deliveries into Gaza are taken by Hamas instead of going to civilians.
Aid groups, however, say there is no evidence of this happening on a systemic basis.
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Israel began to allow a limited amount of food into Gaza last week – after a blockade that prevented food, medicine, fuel and other goods from entering the Palestinian enclave.
A letter has been signed by hundreds of judges and lawyers calling on the UK government to impose trade sanctions on Israel.
It also calls for Israeli ministers to be sanctioned and the suspension of Israel from the UN over “serious breaches of international law”.
“Genocide is being perpetrated in Gaza or that, at a minimum, there is a serious risk of genocide,” the letter says.
The Israeli government has repeatedly dismissed allegations of genocide in Gaza.
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At least 31 dead after school attack
More than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its ground invasion of Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, following the deadly attacks by the militant group on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and saw around 250 people taken hostage.
The health ministry’s figures do not differentiate between civilians and fighters in Gaza.
King Charles and Queen Camilla are being urged to use their visit to Canada to seek an apology for the abuse of British children.
Campaigners have called on them to pursue an apology for the “dire circumstances” suffered by so-called “Home Children” over decades.
More than 100,000 were shipped from orphan homes in the UK to Canada between 1869 and 1948 with many used as cheap labour, typically as farm workers and domestic servants. Many were subject to mistreatment and abuse.
Canada has resisted calls to follow the UK and Australia in apologising for its involvement in child migrant schemes.
King Charles and Mark Carney on Monday. Pic: PA
Campaigners for the Home Children say the royal visit presents a “great opportunity” for a change of heart.
“I would ask that King Charles uses his trip to request an apology,” John Jefkins told Sky News.
John’s father Bert was one of 115,000 British Home Children transported to Canada, arriving in 1914 with his brother Reggie.
“It’s really important for the Home Children themselves and for their descendants,” John said.
“It’s something we deserve and it’s really important for the healing process, as well as building awareness of the experience of the Home Children.
“They were treated very, very badly by the Canadian government at the time. A lot of them were abused, they were treated horribly. They were second-class citizens, lepers in a way.”
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John Jefkins
John added: “I think the King’s visit provides a great opportunity to reinforce our campaign and to pursue an apology because we’re part of the Commonwealth and King Charles is a new Head of the Commonwealth meeting a new Canadian prime minister. It’s a chance, for both, to look at the situation with a fresh eye.
“There’s much about this visit that looks on our sovereignty and who we are as Canadians, rightly so.
“I think it’s also right that in contemplating the country we built, we focus on the people who built it, many in the most trying of circumstances.”
The issue was addressed by the then Prince of Wales during a tour of Canada in May 2022. He said at the time: “We must find new ways to come to terms with the darker and more difficult aspects of the past.”
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King Charles and Queen Camilla are on a two-day visit to Canada.
On Tuesday, the King will deliver the Speech from the Throne to open the 45th session of Canada’s parliament.
Camilla was made Patron of Barnardo’s in 2016. The organisation sent tens of thousands of Home Children to Canada. She took on the role, having served as president since 2007.
Buckingham Palace has been contacted for comment.
A spokesperson for the Canadian government said: “The government of Canada is committed to keeping the memory of the British Home Children alive.
“Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada deeply regrets this unjust and discriminatory policy, which was in place from 1869 to 1948. Such an approach would have no place in modern Canada, and we must learn from past mistakes.”
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