OPINION | The actions of Gabbie Hanna and Andrew Tate should be cause for concern
Social media personalities Andrew Tate and Gabbie Hanna have recently been the subjects of controversy.
Former boxer and current social media influencer Andrew Tate has been removed from several social media platforms due to his misogynistic comments that went against platform guidelines. This resulted in Tate moving to the video site Rumble, which markets itself as being “immune to cancel culture”. Romanian authorities have also investigated Tate regarding allegations of sex trafficking and rape.
Creators like Tate who tend to fall under the manosphere community have repeatedly been accused of promoting misogyny, anti-feminism and toxic forms of masculinity. I think Tate being removed from social media platforms was a justified response. Many people who are fans or just casual viewers of manosphere content either range from people who already have toxic views or young men who fall victim to manosphere rhetoric. In either case, creators such as Tate tend to validate these toxic views in others or exploit viewers, all while packaging it under the guise of being a positive male role model.
YouTuber Gabbie Hanna recently startled her Tiktok followers after publishing 100 videos in a single day. All of the videos depict Hanna going through supposed manic episodes during which she delivers a range of monologues about mental health and religion, some of which include assertions that she is the “messiah.” She has been criticized for making remarks considered racist and transphobic in a few of these videos.
Numerous Hanna supporters expressed concern and worry about her mental health. This resulted in the police going to Hanna’s house for a wellness check when neighbors reported her screaming in the middle of the night, as well as a stranger arriving at her house who claimed to be concerned about her.
Hanna’s controversy has more to do with the responsibility platforms such as Tiktok have to ensure erratic behaviors don’t escalate and move towards something dangerous.
Regarding her remarks that are seen as ill-informed and offensive, they should be monitored and flagged by the platform if necessary. Of course, Gabbie Hanna shouldn’t be faulted for struggling with mental health, as she has admitted to having bipolar disorder. It is easy to see how viewers could be worried about her mental state. However, despite concern from fans being understandable, a stranger does not have the right to come to Hanna’s home and make an attempt to help.
These individuals’ actions have sparked discussions on the duties of media platforms to improve their ability to regulate the content of platform users, as well as the subject of parasocial relationships and how they can result in fans elevating creators and promoting their behavior. These are both valid discussions, especially considering the large following these creators have.
When it comes to the massive following Tate and Hanna both have, there is a danger of fans egging creators on or just outright excusing their behavior. This is the reason platforms need guidelines to prevent creators from making content that is harmful to users. One of the reasons a creator like Andrew Tate managed to gain such a following on social media was through his misogynistic and toxic rhetoric being cloaked as self help from a “male guru.” Platforms should penalize and remove creators that spread toxic views about a certain group of people. This isn’t just about another person having “a different opinion” on a certain subject, especially when the language used by manosphere creators can and has had real world consequences which have ranged from harassment to outright violence against women.
In regards to Hanna’s behavior in her most recent videos, it should be clear that no one should be penalized for mental health reasons. At the same time, people should still be held accountable for their behavior, and this includes platforms making sure that behavior doesn’t lead to harmful acts or comments that are at best insensitive and at worst offensive. Flagging and removing videos with these types of comments prevents them from being spread to an audience that tends to enable and glorify the behaviors and comments of creators, instead of calling it out as wrong and harmful.
The main responsibility of social media should be to prioritize the safety of the viewers and creators alike and prevent harmful content from being propagated. Gabbie Hanna and Andrew Tate are just a couple examples of how social media platforms need to be more proactive in moderating their content. The influence popular creators have on their fans shouldn’t be underestimated, especially when some of them market themselves as being a “positive influence.”
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Ian Stewart is a creative writing major and serves as the opinions editor. He has worked on the newspaper staff since the Fall of 2021. Ian is a native...
Yumi Domangue is a double major in mechatronics engineering technology and new media and animation. She joined Student Publications in the Fall of 2021...
Anna Toups • Sep 14, 2022 at 8:37 am
These other comments are extremely concerning. I genuinely hope that they are not students at southeastern.
Sophia • Oct 12, 2022 at 2:34 pm
They’re men. Big surprise there.
Gibbons p James • Sep 14, 2022 at 4:00 am
Hold up Mr Ian Stewart, I will give you any critique of the female as I have no time for useless drives, however,
Most Importantly of all is perhaps my condemnation of this article in which you have proven to be what is entirely wrong with our society today.
I hereby declare that after reading what you said about Andrew Tate, that I have never in my life read anything to be this wrong. How dare anyone agree with this Communist approach unless they are also living under Xi Jing Ping in the C.C.P. I expect that you will think very hard about what you wrote, and I offer you a chance to take another chance to edit this article after using your brain to think about what you have put out during a time when your college occupation should be helping you determine how the rest of your life will follow what you write here.
I want you to put yourself in this man’s shoes before you decide to write a scathing and attacking column against another man who if both of you were to argue each other’s side in court in front of a judge, You would have not a leg to stand on. Any reasonable human being would in fact every single time choose to find you guilty of everything you just wrongly claimed the defendant should be punished for. In fact, you could actually find yourself on the losing end of any jury of your peers in any court district in this great Republic. I could go on forever but my phone is dying. You are very likely to learn of your mistakes one day sooner not later as each time someone is canceled by big tech and the left, that’s one less person who will be there for when they notice that you as well should be sentenced to the unilateral drone strike of these Future Dictators who are on the path to eventually become psychopathic murderers if no one stops them from continuing to act as if Satan, Lucifer, or perhaps they may feel that their actions have been blessed by the All Powerful God Almighty Creator.
Andrew Tate has done absolutely nothing to deserve a complete pulverization of his ability to live in society today as the evil authoritarian cabal has decided to play god with his finances, and as his god given right to free speech without prosecutor, judge, nor jury, Mr Stewart you have just stated that you are okay with this non elected parole board of tyrannical executioners playing with the freedom of innocent until proven guilty human beings, with no court of law, nor refuge afforded every human in the United States of America or Europe and the U.K. Your utter agreement with this immediate return to Pravda, Soviet style Execution of human beings without even an explanation ever being sent to the man.
Dan • Sep 13, 2022 at 1:46 pm
Basic forms of masculinity are considered “toxic?” No wonder male depression is skyrocketing: men are told they have to act like women or they’re too extremist for our current climate.
Kyle • Sep 13, 2022 at 2:35 pm
I think that censorship and the removal of content is wrong; he should be able to voice an incorrect/correct opinion. Banning him from all platforms appeases a certain crowd, and bolsters the other. “If he was banned, he MUST have been telling the truth, and he was silenced.”
I don’t agree with how he aggressively monetized how to become a “strong male figure”, and learning how to “escape the matrix”. The way he did it was disingenuous. That behavior was predatory and very harmful.
TL;DR: Social media is becoming crazy.
Sophia • Oct 12, 2022 at 2:45 pm
Men are depressed because binary views of gender are shoving them into boxes and convincing them their emotions do not matter because they are men. If your decided form of masculinity is thinking you’re better than everyone who doesn’t fit exactly into some cookie-cutter stereotype of a man then, yeah, your form of masculinity is pretty toxic.