Alliance Party MP begins legal action over Andrew Tate social media posts
By Jonathan McCambridge, PA
Lisburn MP Sorcha Eastwood has begun legal action against influencer Andrew Tate and his brother over social media posts.
A lawyer for the Alliance Party MP said the posts were made on Friday, the day after she had told MPs that she was a “survivor of abuse” and had received rape threats.
Kevin Winters of KRW Law said: “We act on behalf of Sorcha Eastwood MP.
“We are instructed to issue legal proceedings against Andrew and Tristan Tate over their continued publication of social media postings on January 10th, 2025.
“We can confirm service of correspondence on today’s date to their solicitors.
“In light of the sensitivities of the issues engaged, we have no further comment at this stage.”
Ms Eastwood told the House of Commons last week that a member of the public “came up and said they wanted to rape me” during a school visit she was leading at Stormont.
During the debate on violence against women and girls, Ms Eastwood also raised concerns about incel culture, an online group who describe themselves as “involuntary celibates”.
The Lagan Valley MP said: “I am a survivor of abuse myself. Northern Ireland is one of the most dangerous places in Europe to be a woman.”
She added: “We previously did a lot of visits to the Northern Ireland Parliament building Stormont whenever I sat there in the Northern Ireland Assembly, and during one school visit a member of the public came up and said they wanted to rape me.
“And there were two people there and we just kind of were paralysed with the response, and that was not the right response. Not from me, but from the people around.”
The posts that have caused Ms Eastwood to launch the legal action were made on social media the day following the debate.
Andrew Tate has previously been banned from TikTok, YouTube and Facebook after the platforms accused him of posting hate speech and misogynistic comments, including that women should bear responsibility for being sexually assaulted.
But he remains popular on X, with almost 10 million followers, many of them young men and schoolchildren.
Lawyers representing Andrew and Tristan Tate have been approached for a response.
