A group of sport’s leading leagues and broadcasters have, in a letter to the chief executive of social media platform X (formerly Twitter), called for more action against illegal piracy and the distribution of illegal content.
The letter, seen by The Associated Press publication, reportedly has 14 signatories – including soccer properties such as the English Premier League, German Bundesliga, Italian Serie A, Spanish LaLiga, and European governing body UEFA. It was addressed to Linda Yaccarino, who has been the X CEO since June 2023.
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In addition, broadcasters such as Sky, BeIN Sports, DAZN, DirecTV, and Movistar Plus have all signed.
The letter, according to the Associated Press, says that the signatories want to “draw X’s immediate attention to its persistent failings in the fight against the availability of unlawful content on its platform and urgently call for a meeting with X’s representatives to address this unacceptable situation.”
It adds that the current X approach to “taking down unlawful live content” is “woefully insufficient and inadequate.”
Ever since controversial tech businessman and investor Elon Musk acquired Twitter in October 2022 and rebranded it as X shortly thereafter, the signatories 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.”
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By GlobalDataThe Associated Press said it had obtained the letter from a person not authorized to speak publicly about the subject.
The 14 signatories called the current situation about illegal streams' availability on X “completely untenable,” and said that “X is increasingly the home of unlawful social media piracy.”
They urged X to “take all necessary measures” to “become a responsible platform which respects intellectual property and … comply in full of its obligations under the Digital Services Act as soon as possible.”
