Equality junior minister Rebecca Buttigieg has spoken out about the impact of social media influencers like Andrew Tate for “normalising highly concerning attitudes towards women”.
The Labour MP’s comments to Times of Malta come days after Nicolette Ghirxi was found stabbed to death in her Birkirkara flat, allegedly by her ex-partner Edward Johnston.
In his last YouTube video, Johnston had spoken out in support of Tate, who has amassed millions of followers for his divisive content and is detained in Romania as part of a human trafficking and rape investigation.
Buttigieg, who helped usher in changes to Malta’s criminal code that mandated higher penalties for people found guilty of femicide, spoke out against toxic messaging on social media.
“The new form of very effective viral content is not only normalising highly concerning attitudes towards women but also towards men’s mental health,” she said.
“This is even more concerning when promoted by public figures, such as Andrew Tate, and politicians who normalise …