Legal firm had said Real World Portal encouraged misogyny and there was evidence to suggest it is an illegal pyramid scheme
Apple has withdrawn an app created by Andrew Tate after accusations that it encouraged misogyny and could be an illegal pyramid scheme.
Tate created the app, Real World Portal, after the closure of his “Hustler’s University”, which was an online academy for his fans, promising to assist them in making thousands of pounds while helping Tate’s videos on social media, which have been described as misogynistic, to go viral.
McCue Jury & Partners, the firm representing four British women who have accused Tate of sexual and physical assault, claimed that the app deliberately targets young men and encourages misogyny, including members of the app sharing techniques on how to control and exploit women. The firm has also claimed that there is evidence to suggest that the app is an illegal pyramid scheme, with members being charged $49.99 a month to join.
Last week, the Real World Portal app was removed from Google’s Play store after claims that it was an illegal pyramid scheme and encouraged misogyny.
On Friday night Apple also said it had removed it from its app store. It followed a letter from the legal firm asking Apple to consider whether the app was in line with its policies and whether the company was exposing itself to any corporate liability in hosting it on its platform.
Part of the letter, dated 15 September, said: “We are writing because our clients are extremely concerned that you are hosting Tate’s Real World Portal (RWP) mobile application on your Apple Store … In continuing to host RWP, not only is Apple potentially indirectly financing Tate’s alleged criminal activities but is aiding the spread of his misogynistic teachings.”
The firm had claimed that Apple was directly profiting from hosting the app, with the company taking 30% in royalties from apps and in-app purchases.
Four women in their late 20s and early 30s are pursuing civil proceedings against Tate over alleged offences between 2013 and 2016 while he was still living in the UK.
Before the news that Apple had withdrawn the app, Matt Jury, the lawyer representing the women, said: “Andrew and [his brother] Tristan Tate manipulate their significant online following to promote subscriptions to Real World Portal. From there, the benefits to users are entirely reliant upon new subscribers joining the platform.
“There is also significant evidence that this scheme is directly targeting boys and teenagers and, in my view, is nothing more than an exploitative app which has no place on Apple’s platform.”
Tate is awaiting trial in Romania on charges of human trafficking. He and Tristan were charged in June, along with two Romanian female suspects, with human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women. The suspects have denied the allegations.
A spokesperson for Andrew Tate said: “We unequivocally deny the allegations that ‘The Real World’ app operates as a pyramid scheme or perpetuates harmful techniques aimed at exploiting any individuals, particularly women. The user community, which includes a significant number of women within the 200,000-strong user base, can attest to the positive impact and educational value the app provides.
“Accusations suggesting otherwise are unfounded, lacking credible evidence, and seem to be part of a targeted campaign against Andrew Tate, a known supporter and promoter of the platform. ‘The Real World’ maintains a commitment to complete transparency, ensuring compliance with all legal and ethical standards. We invite sceptics to examine the app independently and affirm that it operates in accordance with legal and moral requirements.
“The platform is designed as an educational tool that fosters healthy habit formation, financial literacy, and self-discipline, with thousands of lives positively impacted. The decision by Google Play is being appealed.”
I've never heard him speak but every time I see him he looks like an egg with a vagina stuck to it so I assume he sounds like something out of a Dali-esque Alice in Wonderland
Pretty much. He sometimes speaks with an American accent and other times a British accent, going back and forth at random which makes the British accent seem forced.
Lucky. Try to avoid hearing him for as long as possible.
Imagine a guy who dominates conversations by talking louder and a bit faster than everyone else, and doesn’t pronounce his Ts. Instead of kitten, he says ki-en, or instead of Bugatti, he says boo-gah-ee. He says the last one a lot.
Ohhhhh god I was on a plane recently and a young couple sat down next to me. I wasn’t tuned in for their whole conversation but at one point I heard her chiding him for how he gets emotional when he’s upset.
She busted out her phone and showed him an Andrew Tate clip where he says something about how no one wants to hear your complaints so don’t waste your time with them, just be a man and be stoic. He used the word stoic.
The young guy shrugged and said “what does he know?”
She said “you’re going to tell me that one of the strongest men in the world, with all his insight, says this and you’re going to just ignore it?”
I snorted out loud, unable to catch myself. Thankfully they didn’t notice.
On his pyramid schemes website, they actually have side loading as the only way to get the Android app. Just they don't call it side loading it's a direct link to the APK with no instructions.
Yeah, that’s what I want. For the government to tell me who I am or am not allowed to spend money with. I’m sure that wouldn’t have any negative repercussions.
Imagine thinking you had to spend your life trying to please certain people. Imagine that you keep failing. And you don’t know what to do. In all likelihood you’re having these problems because you’re a piece of shit but you just have no idea how to not be a piece of shit. You’re really starting to get down on yourself and despair.
But then along comes someone who tells you no, you’re the victim. Fuck those people. They’re the oppressors. They owe you an apology.
That’s a very enticing message for someone who’s at the bottom of a well, emotionally.
One of my coworkers unfortunatly became a conspiracy theorist due to andrew tate. He was a nice young man, now he's a misogynist piece of shit. Claiming things like "the secret jewish world goverment wants Tate removed, because he tells the truth" or "women are inferior in every way, so rape is okay because women are a mens property and he can also own more than one"
It's very sad how young, religios men and teens can be so easily exploited for personal gain.
Last week, the Real World Portal app was removed from Google’s Play store after claims that it was an illegal pyramid scheme and encouraged misogyny.
Before the news that Apple had withdrawn the app, Matt Jury, the lawyer representing the women, said: “Andrew and [his brother] Tristan Tate manipulate their significant online following to promote subscriptions to Real World Portal.
He and Tristan were charged in June, along with two Romanian female suspects, with human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women.
A spokesperson for Andrew Tate said: “We unequivocally deny the allegations that ‘The Real World’ app operates as a pyramid scheme or perpetuates harmful techniques aimed at exploiting any individuals, particularly women.
“Accusations suggesting otherwise are unfounded, lacking credible evidence, and seem to be part of a targeted campaign against Andrew Tate, a known supporter and promoter of the platform.
“The platform is designed as an educational tool that fosters healthy habit formation, financial literacy, and self-discipline, with thousands of lives positively impacted.
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Sounds like these guys should be looking at progressive web apps, if their being de-platformed from the app stores, PWAs are the only way to go. App stores cannot block progressive web apps, unless they remove the browser from the phone. So if you have a web browser you can use a PWA
Not to mention it saves on development time, you just build a good progressive web app and it works on all platforms.
For people who don't have experience with progressive web apps, Voyager the Lemmy client is a progressive web app. You visit it in a browser, and you can install the app locally from the browser itself. So the app runs in the browser locally. They're pretty cool.
I don't support them at all. I don't believe in their cause. I don't believe in their messaging.
Philosophically I'm against all de-platforming, and I'm pointing out that if you want to prevent yourself from being deplatformed, you have to liberate yourself from app stores which have strong opinions.
So I will provide deplatforming advice to anyone, for any reason, because I believe everyone should have a voice.
On a practical level, it's the detestable people who demonstrate de-platforming the most often, so we get practical examples with the evil people. Today it's the misogynistic sociopaths, but tomorrow it could be de-platforming of end-to-end encryption in the UK and removal from all the app stores. My comments would remain just as relevant.
But if you view internet service providers, as common carriers, i.e. telecommunition utilities - then yes they should be forced to, unless it's illegal.
But let's say the unpopular app is self hosting its own website, serving its own PWA from its own servers, as long as there isn't a court order, I don't think utilities should shut them down.
I'll bite: for ideologies that are dangerous, they should be illegal. That would require a public discussion, a law, and a court to identify the perpetrators as breaking the law. Then they get depatformed.
The issue is not tolerating the intolerable, the issue is what is the process for identifying what is intolerable?
My original comment, was about an open internet, progressive web apps enable a more open internet with less non-judicial gatekeepers.
I'm not condoning any of his alleged actions, but it's neither Apple's nor Alphabet's place to unduly influence what I as a user do, say, think or feel.
I agree, however they also don't allow sideloading as far as I know. I think there's a distinction between policing whats on your store, and what users can install from anywhere.