On Monday, Werder Bremen joined St Pauli FC in leaving X (formerly known as Twitter) citing an increase in hate speech on the platform as the reason. All eyes would now be on the bigger clubs from the Bundesliga, such as Bayern Munich, who if followed the two, could create a huge stir within the footballing community.
St Pauli created news by condemning the disguised radicalization measures adopted by X’s owner Elon Musk, and claimed that the South African-born businessman could damage the upcoming Bundestag elections by doing the same.
Werder Bremen released a statement, explaining their reasoning behind leaving one of the world’s leading social media platforms.
“Since Elon Musk took over the platform, hate speech, minority hatred, far-right extremist posts, and conspiracy theories have spread at an alarming rate, under the guise of free speech. Elon Musk actively promotes the radicalization of the platform through his personal posts, including transphobic and antisemitic remarks and conspiracy narratives,” Bremen’s statement read.
Der Wadmin sagt Tschüss…👋
…und hofft auf ein Wiedersehen auf Bluesky. 🤝
Alle Infos zur Entscheidung 👉https://t.co/kziWD4vjdB
Zum neuen Bluesky-Kanal 👉 https://t.co/Nr0B1Qi0Zq#Werder pic.twitter.com/a1Uwjceq4n— SV Werder Bremen (@werderbremen) November 18, 2024
The club further insisted that a ‘line had been crossed’ which is why they halted operations on X. It doesn’t come as that big a surprise, because reports coming out of Germany stated that there could be other clubs joining St Pauli in its X boycott embargo.
However, after Bremen, is it finally time for Bayern Munich to act?
Most people – at least on social media – did not sweat too much about St Pauli or Werder Bremen leaving, with the comments section either puzzled, or unbothered because, in their eyes, they are small clubs.
They are small clubs
— FootballStage (@FootballStage_1) November 15, 2024
Bayern, on the other hand, could silence those claims. Their German and English X handles boast a combined following of over 10 million, with an impressive engagement rate.
With fans from across the globe actively interacting with Bayern Munich’s X account, a sudden halt in activity would undoubtedly make waves.
While joining the boycott could serve as a powerful statement if the values championed by St. Pauli and Bremen align with Bayern’s core principles, it might also risk alienating fans who oppose the boycott.
The next few weeks will be crucial in determining how other Bundesliga clubs respond to this development.
