BREMEN, Germany — German soccer club Werder Bremen is the second Bundesliga team to stop posting on X, citing a rise in hate speech since Elon Musk bought the social media platform.
German soccer club Werder Bremen stops posting on X citing rise of hate speech
German soccer club Werder Bremen is the second Bundesliga team to stop posting on X, citing a rise in hate speech since Elon Musk bought the social media platform.
By The Associated Press
November 19, 2024 at 10:51AM
Werder announced the decision after a club meeting late Monday, following St. Pauli's decision last week also to post instead on the Bluesky platform.
Werder had more than a half-million followers for its German-language channel on X, which was named Twitter when the club joined in May 2008.
''Under the guise of freedom of expression, hate speech, hatred towards minorities, right-wing extremist posts and conspiracy theories have been allowed to spread on X at an incredible pace,'' the club said in a post in English.
The ''recent radicalization'' of X meant ''a line has been crossed,'' Werder said.
Musk was cited in a news release in German on Werder's website that claimed he used the platform as a political weapon.
Werder is eighth in the 18-team Bundesliga and won the last of its four titles in 2004.
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