British politicians think they have a plan to combat Andrew Tate's influence in schools. It's doomed to fail.

• UK politicians aim to combat anti-feminist figure Andrew Tate’s influence through school training.
• Tate, under house arrest for rape and human trafficking charges, has millions of fans.

British politicians have a plan to train young men in schools to be alternative influencer role models to controversial anti-feminist figure Andrew Tate.

But it's likely doomed to fail, say experts.

Tate is one of the major characters in the world known as the manosphere, with 8.8 million followers on X.

He's also a widely controversial individual, with critics labeling him sexist and dangerous. He is currently under house arrest in Romania on rape and human trafficking charges, which he has denied.

But he still has an army of young male fans who look up to him as the GOAT (greatest of all time). They see him as the ultimate alpha male and an inspirational businessman. He's become an all-encompassing figure for young men who feel attacked by modern society and believe they have been left behind.

New, better role models

Bridget Phillipson, a Labour MP in the UK, recently told The Guardian that the party wants to combat sexism by training up young men to be a "powerful counterbalance" to Tate and "some of the negativity that young men might be exposed to online."

The idea is that these male mentors would teach pupils to question videos they see online by figures such as Tate.

While the idea is a valuable one, it doesn't consider how much power Tate and other creators in this world truly hold, experts claim.

Cindy Marie Jenkins, a writer and educator, told BI that Tate's influence is shown when other online creators who run podcasts or YouTube channels throw out sexist slurs or make comments similar to Tate's. This slowly wears down young viewers "to believe these are acceptable because their favorite YouTubers say so."

"Children and teenagers look to these YouTubers, etcetera, as their celebrities, as their role models," she said. "Thus, the politicians must develop a multi-pronged approach to combat Tate that goes beyond the classroom."

The manosphere movement dates back to around 2013 when a community of men on Reddit came up with the idea of the "red pill," and how taking it would make them wake up to the supposed harmful realities of modern feminism.

Since then, the beliefs have spun out in many different directions, including incels, or involuntarily celibates, who condemn women for not sleeping with them and blame them for all their shortcomings.

The impact ranges from misdirected anger toward the opposite sex in forums, and trolling and harassing them online, to more extreme acts of violence, including domestic violence and mass shootings.

Boys and young men idolize Tate

Liking manosphere creators doesn't directly mean someone will be violent toward women. However, some experts have linked the popularity of "men's rights activists" with a risk to women's safety.

Experts have expressed worry that the influence of Tate and other manosphere creators is deeply ingrained.

Teachers previously told Business Insider that children in their classrooms as young as 11 see Tate as their "god," idolizing him and quoting his mantras such as how men should have absolute control over women.

The ideological gap between Gen Z's young men and women is also widening, and these creators could be making it worse.

Daniel Boscaljon, an executive coach and founder of the Healthy Relationship Academy told BI Tate and other creators in the sphere are widespread because toxic masculinity is so readily disguised as building self-esteem and finding success.

"They posit a hierarchical model based on masculine dominance," he said. "This promotes a superficial form of anti-authoritarianism that disguises how deeply molded and obedient they've become."

It's similar to how people are attracted to cults, he explained. People who are insecure find someone who speaks to those self-doubts and gives them a way to combat them, usually by gaining power over others.

"These instructions often involve a learned mistrust of one's self in favor of outside guidance, often reinforced by others in a peer group who amplify the message," Boscaljon said. "Given that Tate successfully targeted and indoctrinated boys at their most influential and impressionable age, it will be difficult to move backward."

Algorithms and fear make Tate's power inescapable

Krysten Stein, a PhD candidate at the University of Illinois at Chicago in communication and media studies, told BI much of the manosphere's influence is rooted in the fear young boys and men are growing up with.

A lot of their content focuses on how women have too much power, and men are the ones who are now seen as inferior.

"Other boys or men will watch that and be like, well, I don't want that, or, the women in my life shouldn't be doing that," she said. "So I think fear underlies a lot of this power, control, and dominance."

Social media algorithms play a part too, she added, favoring controversy because polarizing content and the debates they generate are good for views.

With "white bro culture" so prevalent in the tech world, Stein said, social media companies may not see the issue with figures like Tate, making them inescapable.

"These tech companies need to be, in my opinion, regulated and held accountable, but they're not," she said.

Boscaljon said official school role models are unlikely to counterbalance the power of Tate. The only type of person who would have, he said, would be someone who can tap into the fear young boys and men feel and help them redirect it into building self-trust and courage rather than lashing out in anger.

This would help them "feel confident in an increasingly scary world," he said. "True confidence comes from inner strength, not outer dominance."

Phillipson and Tate did not respond to a request by BI for comment.