The key point here, however, is that exploiting insecurities through insults is not the only thing that Andrew Tate does.

He simultaneously messages to young men that they are weak/poor/unhealthy/cucks/betas/etc, but also that they deserve more, that it's not entirely their fault that they're not getting rich/women/success/etc, and that if they do xyz, they'll fix themselves. Solely insulting them isn't what makes the messaging effective, it's the putting down of their current position in life while simultaneously promising a solution through notions of them having things like sex or money "taken" from them.

It's certainly okay to mock or insult ideologies that are harmful, and to do a bit of that to the people that promote them, but only doing that will only radicalize them away from you. Think about these 2 scenarios:

Scenario A: "You're worthless, you'll never be anything, you're poor, a virgin, and will die alone"

Scenario B: "You're worthless, you're poor, a virgin, and you'll never be anything unless you follow these x steps to become a better man"

Scenario B is what Andrew Tate uses on young men. Scenario A is pure harassment that doesn't motivate anybody on its own, Scenario B motivates action.

If you just ridicule a friend that has negative beliefs and don't present any alternative, they will stop being your friend. If you deride them for sharing a harmful belief, then explain the alternative and how it would make them better off, you're more likely to get them to actually change. (though this is, of course, not universal, and I'm sure a small subset of people could be motivated to change purely off insults and nothing more)

I hope I explained that well, I'm quite prone to rambling 😅

That sounds like an extremely good way to ensure they cling even tighter to the lies sold by the Tates of the world

Antagonism is extremely effective at shutting people off from change. If you antagonize someone and they actually change, they almost certainly could have been better reached through compassion.

And when, like the vast majority of people exposed to antagonism, they don't? You have now convinced them anyone outside their bubble is unreasonable and cruel, and given them a sense of persecution they will reflexively hide behind any time they're confronted with an outside perspective