Werder Bremen leave X due to ‘hate speech’ concerns

BERLIN: German club Werder Bremen have joined fellow Bundesliga side St Pauli in leaving social media site X, formerly known as Twitter, citing an “incredible” increase in “hate speech” under owner Elon Musk.

Bremen, four-time German champions, announced the decision late on Monday after meeting, saying American billionaire Musk – who bought Twitter in 2022 before rebranding it as X – had turned it into “a political weapon.”

“Since Elon Musk took over the platform, hate speech, hatred against minorities, right-wing extremism and conspiracy theories have increased at an incredible pace under the guise of freedom of expression,” the club said in a statement.

Bremen said the platform’s “radicalisation” was “being driven by Elon Musk himself” and adding “a red line has been crossed”.

Bremen, who last won the German title in 2004, have more than 600,000 followers on the social media platform.

Several other top-flight clubs including defending champions Bayer Leverkusen and Wolfsburg, along with second division Hannover, have told German media they are also considering departing the platform.

In 2022, shortly after Musk’s takeover, the German Ski Federation (DSV) left the platform while the German Volleyball Federation (DVV) have not used the platform since March.

On Tuesday, France’s top-selling newspaper Ouest-France told AFP it would join Britain’s The Guardian, La Vanguardia in Spain and Dagens Nyheter in Sweden in leaving the platform.

Musk actively supported US president-elect Donald Trump’s successful bid to return to the White House in November’s elections and has been asked by Trump to help lead efforts to cut government inefficiency.