followed by imprisonment Romanian suspected human trafficker and rape suspect Andrew Tate’s social media was flooded with memes and misinformation from people condemning and defending him.
Tate, 36, has more than 10 million followers across the platforms and has become a polarizing figure on Twitch and YouTube. extreme misogynistic statements. His videos on TikTok have been viewed More than 12 billion timesBy August 2022.
One news release In connection with Tate’s arrest, Romanian law enforcement authorities said that Tate and his brother Tristan, along with two Romanian nationals, recruited the women under the false pretense of having a romantic relationship, then moved and settled them in Romania. The women were then forced to create pornographic content for the group to sell online, law enforcement officials said.
Romanian authorities said in a news release that they have contacted six alleged victims.
Tate has denied the allegations.
Charges a previously reported study Statements from Romanian authorities to Tate and Tate’s own business dealings.
on top of page after deletion Tate wrote on his website that he became a “multi-millionaire” through a “webcam studio” in Romania. The website page is archived at the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine.
“My job was to meet a girl, go on a few dates, sleep with her, see if she’s good enough, make her fall for me to the point where she’ll do whatever I say, and then film her on webcam. they could get rich together,” it was written on the website. A lawyer for Tate did not respond to a request for comment on its website description.
Despite the nature of the allegations and Tate’s history of making misogynistic statements, the news of Tate’s arrest inspired many defenders of the influencer, who used disinformation and conspiracy theories to question the validity of the allegations against Tate. The news also inspired a wave of memes, some of which poked fun at the incident based on pure speculation.
Perhaps the most common piece of viral speculation following Tate’s arrest was that Romania’s organized crime agency DIICOT was able to locate the divisive figure based on a video showing Tate’s Romanian pizza boxes.
Tate posted a video of the pizza box a fight with teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg.
On Tuesday, Tate tweeted at Thunberg about “33 cars” and their “massive emissions.”
Thunberg the answer jokes about Tate’s genitalia on Wednesday. In response to Thunberg, Tate tweeted a video featuring pizza boxes.
After Tate’s arrest, posts speculated that the pizza boxes in the video were an important factor in finding Tate.
But DIICOT spokeswoman Ramona Bolla denied that the pizza boxes had anything to do with Tate’s arrest. Bolla told The Associated Press that the rumor was “funny, but not.” Prosecutors said Tate and his brother are in custody criminal investigation Since April, Tate’s Bucharest mansion has been searched by police over allegations of human trafficking, according to Reuters.
Still, that hasn’t stopped misinformation from taking over Twitter and turning it into crap for memes.
Adding to the online confusion over the details of Tate’s case, some Twitter users have resurfaced old footage of Tate, falsely claiming it was released.
A clip, which has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times on Twitter, shows Tate after he was taken into custody in April 2022 and released two days later. One of the tweets incorrectly read “Andrew Tate Released Matrix Attack Failed”.
Another clip, which resurfaced with millions of views, showed part of a Tucker Carlson interview with Tate and falsely claimed that he had been released from prison. “ANDREW TATE and his Brother Freed. NO LIABILITY,” the tweet falsely claimed.
Tate’s Twitter account continued to post on Friday, including the tweet “The Matrix has sent its agents,” a reference to Tate’s embrace of “red pill” culture, which references the movie “The Matrix” and celebrates anti-progressive positions. Some Twitter users pointed to the tweets as potential evidence that Tate had been let go. Following Tate’s tweet, Twitter CEO Elon Musk posted the “Matrix” meme, which was later shared by Tate’s account. In November 2022, Elon Musk reinstated Tate’s Twitter account. Tate was banned in August 2022 after tweeting that women “bear some responsibility” for rape. Musk and Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
An attorney representing Tate told NBC News that as of publication, a judge had ordered the Tate brothers into custody for 30 days, meaning they will either remain in jail or be offered bail. The attorney said his clients have appealed the decision and that Tate is innocent.
Right-leaning influencers with millions of followers who previously focused on human trafficking reacted by comparing the news of Tate’s arrest to inaction in other cases, including that of Jeffrey Epstein, who died while awaiting trial. federal child sex-trafficking charges and that his numerous properties reportedly host a laundry list of high-profile individuals. Some, including those who defended Tate or spoke on the platform in recent months, pointed out that Tate has yet to be prosecuted.
“Traffickers deserve the death penalty,” said Mike Cernovich, who has 1.1 million followers. who tweets about Visiting the Tate in Romania in September 2019 and posting their photos.
“False allegations were used to humiliate critics of the establishment,” Cernovich added in a tweet. Cernovich did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“Whether Andrew Tate is guilty or not, they skipped the entire Jeffrey Epstein client list because he’s their enemy and not the people on that list,” said conservative YouTuber Blaire White, referring to a theoretical list of Jeffrey Epstein’s clients.
“If Andrew Tate is guilty of human trafficking, I believe he deserves the death penalty,” White said in a statement to NBC News.
Others posted or shared a clip of Tate predicting her arrest, while also suggesting that the circumstances surrounding her arrest were not legal.
“Innocent until proven guilty. Not the other way around. Wait and see is always a wise move,” tweeted Zuby Music, the rapper who has 1 million followers and conducted an interview along with the clip. The rapper tweeted in September 2022 that he knew Tate, but that Tate was not his “hero” and often promoted Tate’s content. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Adin Ross, a Twitch streamer who has performed with Ross multiple times, tweeted that he asked President Joe Biden to “pardon” Tate, saying that despite his arrest in Romania, “Donald Trump was already on it.”
Some Twitter users falsely suggested that Tate was being targeted after she said she had converted to Islam. At the end of October, Tate he said plainly He accepted Islam. in Al JazeeraYousra Samir wrote, “the pushback from within the community, and especially from teachers and scholars, is critical because Tate’s popularity represents a broader trend of red pill culture among some Muslim men.”
While some defended Tate during his arrest, others celebrated, mocked or commented on Tate’s detention through memes.
Many on Twitter responded to Tate’s days-long Twitter feud with Thunberg with interactions and jokes about Tate’s arrest.
“Finally, it happened. One became so strict that they were arrested,” one person said he tweeted citing the like rate of comments on a post in response to the tweets and Tate’s arrest.
Another simple one he wrote“mother nature always wins” and a photoshopped photo of Thunberg standing over Tate’s grave.
Drew Afualo, a content creator with nearly 8 million followers, posted about a minute long video in response to his arrest. In the video, Afualo said he saw the news about Tate’s arrest.
For most of the video, Afualo laughed and paused to say, “How to end the year. Talk about a high note.”
