Andrew Tate – latest updates: Romanian police announce fresh raids after influencer’s arrest

Romanian authorities have announced fresh raids in the investigation against Andrew Tate as seven homes are searched.

DIICOT, the prosecutors overseeing the case announced that seven homes were searched on Thursday morning in Bucharest, Ilfov counties and Prahova.

It comes after Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan this week lost their appeal against a judge’s decision to extend his arrest period from 24 hours to 30 days on charges of being part of an organised crime group, human trafficking and rape.

Read the developing story below:

In our termly equalities meeting at the secondary school where I teach, we usually discuss the broad concerns we’re trying to tackle as a staff body, writes Matt Adams. This week, it was different. Rather than talking about systemic issues and how they affect our students, such as racism, homophobia and ableism, we ended up talking about one man. That man was Andrew Tate.

After discussing the controversial influencer who appeared in court this week, we decided that – due to his continued reach on social media – it would be best to hold assemblies across all the school years to make sure they are being smart about the content they are consuming online.

Read the full story below:

A court in Romania’s capital Bucharest has rejected an appeal by the divisive social media personality Andrew Tate against asset seizures by prosecutors who are investigating him on charges of being part of an organised crime group and human trafficking, an official said.

Ramona Bolla, a spokesperson for Romanian anti-organised crime agency DIICOT, said that in a hearing on Wednesday at the Bucharest Tribunal, Tate lost an appeal that challenged asset seizures by prosecutors, including properties and a fleet of luxury cars.

The court “decided that the seizures are legal and (that) the goods remain at our disposal”, she told The Associated Press.

Prosecutors investigating the case have so far seized 15 luxury cars – 11 in December raids and four last week – at least seven of which are owned by the Tate brothers, as well as more than 10 properties and land owned by companies registered to them.

Ms Bolla said is not clear whether any assets seized since December were included in Wednesday’s appeal.

Misogynist internet personality Andrew Tate has been held by police in Romania since 29 December but his Twitter account has continued to post the former kickboxer’s particular brand of conspiracy-laden content to his 4.5 million followers.

Several tweets have referenced the controversial influencer’s arrest alongside his brother on charges of human trafficking, rape and organised crime, with cryptic references to a so-called “Matrix” that is claimed to be working against him.

Other tweets follow the pattern established after Mr Tate’s once-banned account returned last year, with a mix of religious citations, challenges to the masculinity of his fans, warnings against alleged powers that be and promotions for his other content.

The account continued to be active even as Mr Tate and his brother sat in a court appeal hearing on Tuesday, resharing posts with messages of support for the pair.

Hafsa Lodi’s take on Andrew Tate’s adoption of Islam: Is it him? That shiny bald head, manicured beard, and gradient “I’m a celebrity” sunglasses are unmistakeable. A four-minute clip of Andrew Tate, a controversial figure who is known for making vulgar and inflammatory statements about women, has infiltrated the intimate boundaries of my smartphone through a forwarded WhatsApp video. Prior to this, I’ve actively avoided researching or discussing Tate, despite his notoriety on social media – I’d hate to give any more airtime to the self-proclaimed misogynist who is already one of the most frequently googled people on the internet.

But this time I give in, and a quick search leads me to the original video, posted on YouTube a year ago by a “male self-improvement” podcast that hosts “Womanizer Wednesdays”. In the three-hour interview, Tate spews some twisted and simplistic statements about Islam in his apparent attempt to praise the religion.

The lawyer representing social media personality Andrew Tate has claimed there is “no evidence” to support allegations of human trafficking, rape or organised crime against him.

Josh Payne reports:

Online misogynist Andrew Tate lost his appeal on Tuesday against a judge’s earlier decision to extend his arrest period from 24 hours to 30 days on charges of being part of an organised crime group, human trafficking and rape.

The 36-year-old social media influencer was initially detained on 29 December in an area of north of the capital Bucharest along with his brother Tristan, who is charged in the same case. Two Romanian suspects are also in custody.

All four of them challenged the arrest extension that was granted to prosecutors on 30 December.

Following the court’s rejection of their appeal, the defendants could now be held for up to 180 days under Romanian law.

Sufyan Ahmed argues that Andrew Tate should be wiped from social media: Teachers across the country have raised the alarm on how Tate has effectively radicalised a generation of young men and has fuelled misogyny in the classroom.

They have noticed an increase in sexist incidents with many students referencing Tate’s ideas and parroting his catchphrases.

Moreover, male students are becoming hostile when issues such as gender equality are discussed in the classroom.

Tate appears to have successfully tapped into feelings of loneliness and anger amongst young men who have been missold the lie that that they are somehow “losing power” due to changing gender relations.

They turn to Tate and see him as a male role model due to his material success. Without solutions to protect vulnerable impressionable men of my generation, my fear is that Tate will continue to have a lasting negative influence.

So, what do we do? Well, deplatforming is a controversial tool to counter the spread of these ideas, but evidence shows it works.

After many social media platforms pulled the plug on Tate’s accounts, Google searches for his name fell by around 60 per cent. Subsequentially, other creators feared including him in their content in case their accounts would suffer the same fate. However, this isn’t the silver bullet.

Social media platforms must do more, especially with algorithms.

Users on TikTok have been bombarded with content regarding Tate if they simply just watch a video about men’s health, as the platform tailors what it pushes to young men. And we already know Tate has substantial links with far right organisations.

News of Andrew Tate’s arrest has been met with relief by many hoping this will bring an end to his relevance. However, in my view (and experience) the damage is done. Tate’s views, amplified by social media, has already led to huge numbers of young men from my generation being manipulated, and without urgent intervention we may end up with a lost generation of young men. Let me tell you what I’ve seen.

There is no denying the immense reach Tate achieved. He was the most Googled man over the summer of 2022. Videos with his hashtag have amassed 13 billion views on TikTok. His mentoring scheme currently has 160,000 paying subscribers.

Once you delve into what Tate preaches to the masses, his social media reach is terrifying. Tate has made comments such as, “women bear some responsibility for rape”; has compared women to dogs and proudly confessed in one video with a fellow YouTuber to being an “absolute misogynist”, stating that he was in fact a “realist” and “when you’re a realist, you’re sexist”. The amplification of these views should terrify everyone.