YouTube pulls Andrew Tate affiliate channels with millions of views

YouTube has pulled several popular channels pushing Andrew Tate's "online business academy", following allegations that the influencer has exploited young fans through it.

Tate's scheme, The Real World, is at the centre of the ban. One channel that had more than 600,000 subscribers was banned for promoting it.

The channel had picked up more than 450 million views since December 2022, despite YouTube having previously said it had terminated Tate affiliated channels.

Other The Real World channels removed by YouTube included one with 264,000 subscribers and nearly 300 million views, and another with 50,000.

It comes after reports from earlier this week which found serious concerns around Tate's $49-a-month programme, which promises to help teenage boys get rich.

Critics told Vice that the scheme was instead exploiting young Tate fans for their money and work, recruiting them via ads on social media.

They added that the scheme had survived so long because of lax moderation policies on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, despite all three having said they had banned the content previously.

In a statement, a YouTube spokesperson said the channels had been terminated “for violating our Terms of Service, which prohibit prominently featuring content from a previously terminated user”.

“When a channel is terminated, it is against our Terms of Service to open or use another channel or circumvent the policy suspension of one channel by activity on another.”

One of the channels, with 264,000 subscribers, was banned for violating YouTube’s spam, deceptive practices, and scams policies, “which strictly prohibit content where the main purpose is to trick others into leaving YouTube for another site,” said the spokesperson.

Tate and his brother Tristan are currently awaiting trial after accusations of forming a criminal gang to exploit women. They both deny the allegations.

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