Joyce Fegan: The problem is not Andrew Tate alone — society plays a part too

“Our systems and society allowed this man and his views to flourish. Tate, therefore, could have been anyone”

Andrew Tate is being held on charges of being part of an organised crime group involved in human trafficking and rape. Tate is banned from YouTube, TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. However, up until recently, he hadn’t been. These systems we created, which some profited from, gave him and those with views like him carte blanche. Picture: Andreea Alexandru/AP

Long before the popularity of Andrew Tate, a friend told of how she’d been out walking with her mother one evening. The pair walked past a group of teenaged boys dressed in the local school uniform. She clocked them at about 14. The group of boys were talking about a girl they “fancied”. One boy said: “I’d rape her.” Not that all of the boys laughed, but there was no major reaction to what had just been said. It was more that they didn’t really understand the significance or magnitude of it.

This week The New York Times ran a report called ‘Brainwashing a Generation: British Schools Combat Andrew Tate’s Views’.