Elon Musk's X is the 'home of social media piracy,' sports leagues say

"The home of unlawful social media piracy."

That's what some of the biggest football leagues in the world are calling Elon Musk's X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, in a letter obtained by the Associated Press.

The letter from soccer leagues like Premier League, LaLiga, Bundesliga, and Serie A, which was sent to X CEO Linda Yaccarino, demands that the company take more action against copyrighted content being illegally published on the platform.

Since Elon Musk took over X, then known as Twitter, in October 2022, pirated content has run rampant. Almost immediately after Musk's acquisition, users began sharing full-length films from major companies with little-to-no oversight. The company seemingly made matters worse by rolling out new updates and features, like the ability to upload longer videos, that seemed to further enable the unauthorized distribution of copyrighted content.

The football world calls out X

Along with the Premier League and LaLiga, the letter to X was also signed by major soccer governing bodies like UEFA and CONMEBOL. 

Potentially even more concerning for X is the fact that networks and platforms that air the leagues' games signed the letter too. Companies like DIRECTV, Sky, Movistar Plus+, beIN, and DAZN – all of which signed the letter – have distribution rights to a variety of sports, not to mention entertainment events and shows, in addition to soccer.

In the letter, these organizations specifically call out X for its "persistent failings" in moderating unlawful distribution of copyrighted material. The letter makes it clear that this problem is unique to the platform since Musk's acquisition.

"X’s approach to taking down unlawful live content notified to them is woefully insufficient and inadequate," reads the letter sent to Musk, Yaccarino, and X. "This makes our respective intensive efforts to tackle this problem hugely inefficient. Critically, since you acquired the platform, we have witnessed a demoralizing reduction in technical support making it ever more difficult to engage with the platform in any kind of meaningful discussion on this topic."

The letter mentions how X under Musk has severely lacked in providing support for these companies, an issue the letter says has been exacerbated by the fact that X's content moderation resources were recently decreased by 20 percent. The letter also says that X "lacks many of the features which other responsible social media operators deploy to combat piracy.”

All of these issues combined have resulted in "an increased perception among pirates that they can do as they wish on X with impunity," according to the letter, which provides examples of illegal live streams being broadcast on X. 

Mashable noticed such livestreams spreading on X during the recent 2024 Copa América and Euros tournaments as well, and monitored some of these streams. These streams were rarely taken down on X. When one was removed, often a new feed would just be shared in its place.

Mashable has reached out to X about these streams, and the others mentioned in the letter, and will update if we hear back.

Will this affect X's sports dominance?

X has lost users from various online communities to competitor platforms like Threads and Bluesky over the past few years.

However, one user base that's continued to hold strong on X are sports fans. 

X is still the place for real-time discussion of the biggest games and matches on social media. Because X is where the fans are, many sports leagues and teams have remained active on the platform. Right now, for example, X is filled with not only Olympics-related content but also paid advertising from the networks currently airing the 2024 summer games in Paris.

However, X's relationship with sports leagues and broadcasters could certainly be affected by the company's blasé response to the publication of pirated content. X is already very familiar with advertiser boycotts as a result of Musk's leadership or even his own behavior. 

The leagues and organizations behind the letter sent to X says that they "urgently call for a meeting with X’s representatives to address this unacceptable situation."