Named after Hamburg's St. Pauli district, the club is known among soccer fans for its left-leaning supporter base.

German soccer club St. Pauli is leaving X, saying the social media platform has become a “hate machine” that could influence upcoming German elections.

German Bundesliga club St Pauli said on Thursday it was withdrawing from X because the social media platform had become an 'amplifier of hate' that could influence German politics.

St Pauli Hamburg has decided to leave the social media platform X, citing as a reason that Elon Musk, the owner of the microblogging platform, has turned it into a "hate amplifier." "Elon Musk has turned a space for debate into a hate amplifier that could also influence the Bundestag elections,

The club also called on its followers on Elon Musk's X to switch to BlueSky. The club statement was accompanied by a photo of a sticker showing a fist smashing a swastika, beside the club’s emblem and a slogan saying its fans are against right-wing politics.

Bundesliga club move to Bluesky and urge fans to follow citing concerns that Elon Musk's platform may influence German election

German club St. Pauli has announced it is leaving social media platform X, saying it has become a “hate machine” that could influence upcoming German elections. The Hamburg club has become the first major outfit and the first Bundesliga club to depart the platform formerly called Twitter and owned by far-right billionaire Elon Musk.

St Pauli encouraged its 250,000 followers to switch to Bluesky, the rival social network championed by former Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey.