Bundesliga Club, St. Pauli Leaves Platform X For Hate Speech Reasons

St. Pauli, announced on Thursday 14 November that they would leave platform X (photo; screenshot/voi)

JAKARTA The Bundesliga football club from Germany, St. Pauli, announced on Thursday, November 14, that it would leave platform X (previously known as Twitter), arguing the platform had become a potential "vertiser of hate" affecting German politics.

In a statement, the Hamburg-based club accused owner X, Elon Musk, of turning the platform that was originally for the debate room into a place that strengthens hatred and could impact Germany's election campaign scheduled for February 23.

The early elections were scheduled after Chancellor Olaf Scholz's governing coalition collapsed, with far-right and left-wing parties showing increased support.

St. Pauli's decision comes a day after the British newspaper The Guardian decided to stop posting on X, citing growing "disturbing content" such as racism and conspiracy theories.

On the same day, Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia also announced it would stop their accounts, calling X a "emergency room" for conspiracy disinformation and theory.

"Since taking over Twitter, formerly known for the name, Musk has turned X into a hate machine," St. Pauli said in a statement. "Rasism and conspiracy theories are allowed to spread uncontrollably, even promoted. Humiliation and threats are rarely sanctioned and sold as freedom of speech."

Even though the St. Pauli account will be abandoned, content from the last 11 years will remain available as a historical record. St. Pauli is known to have an alternative-minded and left-handed support base, as well as being active in various social projects, including support for refugees and minorities, to installing a honeycomb on the roof of the stadium to raise environmental awareness.