As news of controversial media personality Andrew Tate's arrest and Twitter spat with Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg made headlines, internet users were quick to point out that it was ultimately GRETA that brought the far-right celebrity to the Romanian authorities' radar.
GRETA, which stands for the Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, is a European body that monitors the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings by the Parties.
This 15-member body is currently in the spotlight for Andrew Tate's detention, after a year old press release by the group has gone viral. Civil rights attorney and Twitter user Alejandra Caraballo posted a tweet of a screenshot of the Council of Europe website. The screenshot referred to a press release dated June 3, 2021 in which GRETA (the council, not the activist) urged Romania to ensure that human trafficking offences lead to effective sanctions.
Now, a year and half later, Romanian authorities are in the limelight for detaining four people on suspicion of human trafficking, one of which was Andrew Tate.
The irony of an organization named GRETA bringing down Andrew Tate was not lost on netizens, who responded to Caraballo's tweet with memes and laughter. As Twitter user viralsmile remarked, "The writers really did a great job with this 2022 finale".
