The arrest of scandalous “influencer” Andrew Tate on charges of rape and human trafficking has eased Romania’s booming erotic video chat industry and the operation of “video cams”. In a dozen years, it has become a niche activity, turning Romania into one of the world’s largest providers of virtual sex, with 500 studios across the country, according to AFP.

But no one in the Romanian media knew Andrew Tate, and they are now investigating allegations that he is an “influencer”, an avowed misogynist, who, together with his brother Tristan, forced women into prostitution and conducted virtual sex. Romanian “sexcam” operators told AFP they did not know the British-American kickboxer had a studio until the “escándalo” broke.

“Los hermanos Tate are not known in the industry and have never participated in industry events,” responded Maria Borogina, a successful former model turned director of Best Studios, one of Romania’s largest companies. “Este empleo te la opportunity de ganar mucho” desde la juventud, comentó mientras mujeres jóvenes en bata tomaban café tras varias horas frente a las cámaras.

Boroghina dijo tener a 160 mujeres inscritas en su estudio. “The monthly salary después de impuestos para nuestras ‘camgirls’ is $8,000,” diez veces el salario promedio en Rumania. “Everything is transparent and legal,” he added. “Las chicas trabajan bajo contrato y reciben entre 50% y 90% del dinero” que ganan para el estudio”, he assured. Los clients pay from two to 10 dollars per minute “por una conversación privada con las chicas”, quienes transmiten hasta ocho one more hour a day.

According to Borogina, there are several reasons for Romania’s success in the sex cam industry. “Romanian women are beautiful and intelligent, speak good English and have good internet speed,” AFP explained. Although the industry is legal, it is not regulated by Romanian law or recognized in tax matters, obliging women to work as “online service providers” based on a copyright treaty. According to him, Fabrizio Sarrica of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime claimed that “around the world we are seeing an increasing number of (traffic) victims who have been recruited to work in front of the cameras.”

“It’s very profitable” for criminals because a large number of “clients from all over the world” have access and “images can be used multiple times and sold in dark red,” he added. – ‘Unfair’ – But industry advocates such as Borogina and Ruxandra Tataru, organizers of the sexcam industry’s Cumbre de Bucharest, said they would support the rules. Sexual content “is only 5% of the work”, insisted Borogina, who assured that her studio’s services are not available to Romanians to protect women’s privacy.

Tataru argued that platforms such as TikTok and OnlyFans have helped raise “the stigma around this activity.” Romanian women represent 40% of the global video chat industry,” said Anastasia, a 33-year-old former “camgirl” who now represents “models” at another studio in Bucharest, Models4Models.

Oleksandra, head of marketing at the studio, who did not give her last name, said it was “not fair that this is a scandal, that people think Andrew Tate represents the video chat industry. It’s not fair.” Tate, 36, denies any wrongdoing and says there is no evidence against him. But Borogina believes that the scandal can have positive consequences and lead to the fact that los politicos will be the usual mejor a la industria. “No hay publicidad mala y creo que este caso, que puto a la industria en el centro de la atención, es una opportunity para educar a la gente,” he assured.