Werder Bremen joins St. Pauli in boycotting X over Trump-Musk Alliance

Following FC St. Pauli’s historic decision to quit X (formerly known as Twitter), another prominent Bundesliga club, Werder Bremen, has also announced its exit from the platform, citing similar concerns over the direction the social media platform has taken under Elon Musk’s ownership.

The German top-tier football league Bundesliga’s club St Pauli recently announced their decision to leave the popular social media platform X formerly known as Twitter after Donald Triumph won the United States Election and was elected as the 47th president of the United States of America. However, many must be wondering what does US president has to do with the Bundesliga team leaving the Elon Musk-owned X.

Now, Werder Bremen has followed suit, with their official statement echoing similar sentiments. The Green-Whites, who are proud advocates of diversity, freedom, and democracy, criticized the spread of hate speech, right-wing extremism, and conspiracy theories on the platform, which they argue have been exacerbated under Musk’s leadership. The club also condemned Musk’s personal posts, which included transphobic, antisemitic, and controversial political comments. Werder Bremen emphasized that X has become a tool for political manipulation, especially during the US election campaign, and stated that they can no longer support a platform that promotes such toxicity.

Both clubs have made it clear that they will no longer communicate through X and have called on their supporters to join them on Bluesky, which they consider a safer, more inclusive platform for meaningful discourse. Werder Bremen’s CEO, Klaus Filbry, confirmed the decision at the club’s annual general meeting, stating that the platform no longer aligns with the club’s values of cohesion and solidarity.

Why Bundesliga clubs are leaving ‘X’?

The clubs have claimed ‘X’ has turned into a hate machine after the American businessman Elon Musk bought one of the most prominent social media platforms for a whopping $44 billion from founder Jack Dorsey in October 2022. Notably, after acquiring the platform, Elon became the CEO of Twitter and changed its name from Twitter to X resembling his vision and Space venture SpaceX.

St Pauli questioned the integrity of X calling out Musk for mismanaging the platform due to racism, and hate speech, and even accused the owner of pushing far-right ideology on the app. Additionally, the Space X founder was assigned a significant role in Trump’s newly formed government venture ”department of Government Efficiency’ which also fueled the scrutiny of his direct involvement with the State government might influence the working of X.

In the recent, US presidential election, the Tesla CEO had actively endorsed Donald Trump and the Republican Party and advocated his preference with sheer passion and dedication throughout the election campaign. Subsequently, Musk helped Trump to lead the Republican Party to significant victory and claim a remarkable victory to return to the White House for the second spell as the President of the USA.

Consequently, The boys in Brown expressed their concern that content on the X can also influence the forthcoming German parliamentary election campaign, among the reasons for their exit. Traditionally, St Pauli and its fanbase are renowned for its far-left supporting views and socio-political beliefs, as they have been vigorously voicing their opinions and promoting their views regarding LQBTQ, anti-racism and communist-driven ideas.

The club released statement: “FC St. Pauli is withdrawing from the social media platform, X. The Boys in Brown joined the platform in 2013 and had 250,000 followers. Since taking over Twitter, as the platform was previously known, Musk has converted X into a hate machine. Racism and conspiracy theories are allowed to spread unchecked and even curated. Insults and threats are seldom sanctioned and are sold as freedom of speech.

“In addition, following his election victory Donald Trump has picked Musk to head up a new government department. Musk was a major backer of the Trump campaign and also used X for this purpose. It is to be assumed that X will also promote authoritarian, misanthropic and far-right content during the forthcoming German election campaign, this manipulating the public discourse.

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“The account will no longer be used, but the content of the last 11 years will remain online in view of its contemporary historical value. The club would like to thank its members for the critical exchange on what to do about X and calls on its followers on the platform to switch to BlueSky. FC St. Pauli’s English account will also move to BlueSky.” the statement added further.

St Pauli’s Twitter account will be online regardless of their choice to shift to Blusky since they have decided not to deactivate the account permanently to keep their posts on display for the users. However, they have seized their activity and asked the fans to switch to the aforementioned platform and follow the club’s German and English accounts on the App.

Last season, they achieved a promotion to mark their return to the first-division Bundesliga after a long 13-year gap from Bundesliga 2. Presently, they are standing in 16th place on the points table barely escaping the relegation zone with 8 points and two league wins in 10 matches in the 2024/25 season.

Growing Discontent with X Among Bundesliga Clubs

St. Pauli’s departure from X has sparked a wave of discussions within the Bundesliga, with other clubs reportedly considering similar moves. The increasing concerns over Elon Musk’s management of the platform, including the rise of hate speech, right-wing extremism, and the lack of content moderation, have led clubs like Werder Bremen to follow St. Pauli’s example. Major teams such as Bayer Leverkusen, Wolfsburg, Stuttgart, and Leipzig are said to be evaluating their position on the platform and may soon join the exodus to alternatives like Bluesky. This shift reflects a broader dissatisfaction with X’s current direction and could result in a significant change in how football clubs communicate with their fans.

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