Thirty-six-year-old Andrew Tate is a former professional kickboxer, businessman, social media personality and a self-proclaimed misogynist. While cultivating his following for years, Tate has recently amassed enormous success on TikTok. Controversial videos of Tate calling women property, telling women they should bear responsibility for being raped and saying women cannot drive have gone viral on TikTok in the past year. These videos have caused a massive debate online between Tate’s dedicated followers and those in stark opposition. Videos have also begun to circulate of Tate hitting a woman with a belt and asking another woman to count how many bruises he gave her, although, these women have come out since and said that everything that happened between the two was consensual. 

While his followers praise this behavior, teachers have spoken out about Tate’s negative influence on young boys. These teachers have reported a massive increase in misogynistic speech among their male students. Tate and his brother, Tristan Tate, were arrested on December 29 in Romania on charges of organized crime, human trafficking and rape. The pair have since been released and put on house arrest until April 29. It is speculated that the prosecution will then ask for a thirty-day extension of the ongoing investigation. Despite the ongoing investigation and house arrest, the brothers have maintained their innocence and Tate has continued to post messages on Twitter. 

Tate and his brother should not have been released from custody because there is the possibility that they could flee to another country that lacks extradition. Not only does Tate now have the ability to avoid facing charges for his crimes, but with access to his Twitter account, he will keep spreading his hateful ideology to the masses. Tate must be held accountable and put back in jail for his dangerous criminal behavior.