German public broadcaster ZDF has removed part of a television introduction after Elon Musk took legal action over a report about violence in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

The report, aired on June 12 on the news programme ZDFheute Live, stated that a racist mob was hunting migrants and that the call for that came from a British right-wing extremist and tech billionaire Elon Musk. ZDF has conceded that this wording was misleading and removed the passage entirely.

The violence in Belfast erupted following a knife attack in the north of the city. A Sudanese man was arrested at the scene and later remanded in custody on a charge of attempted murder. The victim was seriously wounded and lost his left eye in the attack, which prompted unrest in Belfast and led to homes and vehicles being set alight.

British far-right activist Tommy Robinson had shared protest plans on Musk's social media platform X on June 9, claiming that the whole of the United Kingdom would be hitting the streets. Musk quoted the post, writing that only by protesting repeatedly and loudly would there be any change. Robinson has denied calling for riots.

Elon Musk reacted after German journalist Julian Reichelt highlighted the ZDF broadcast. Musk said legal action was being taken against ZDF for what he called "outrageous lies." His lawyer, Joachim Steinhöfel, sent a cease-and-desist letter through a German law firm, describing the wording as a "dastardly and defamatory allegation" and a "drastic violation of journalistic principles." ZDF confirmed that it complied with the demand, submitted the declaration, and removed the disputed passage. Before removing the introduction altogether, ZDF had already added a corrective transparency notice to the broadcast and issued a clarification saying the wording had been "imprecise and therefore misleading." The broadcaster did not say that Musk himself had called for migrants to be hunted.

Musk has faced prior accusations of using his vast reach on social media, with more than 240 million followers on X, to inflame tensions or spread disinformation. After the Belfast attack, Musk rejected allegations that social media had inflamed tensions, saying that it was "murderous migrants targeting innocent people" that was making people angry, not social media. The US-based Centre for Countering Digital Hate said that social media had played a significant role in fuelling violence in Belfast and alleged that Musk had amplified anti-migrant narratives promoted by others and extended their reach to millions of users.

The dispute is part of a longer series of conflicts between Musk and German institutions. He has previously criticized ZDF reporting on his Tesla factory near Berlin, clashed with the German federal government over migration policy, and publicly supported the far-right AfD party before the 2025 federal election. This is also not the first factual error by ZDF that drew public backlash. In September 2025, the broadcaster incorrectly claimed that conservative activist Charlie Kirk had called for the stoning of homosexuals, when he had actually cited a Bible passage during a debate. In February 2026, a segment about American immigration enforcement used a computer-generated video and a real clip from 2022 in the wrong context, creating a misleading impression of current events. ZDF removed those passages and admitted the mistakes.

Legal experts have noted that proving measurable economic loss caused by the statement would be difficult and that any monetary compensation in Germany would likely be modest. They added that pursuing a lawsuit in the United States would face stronger press-freedom protections, making Musk's position weaker there. Steinhöfel indicated an intention to review all ZDF reports about Musk that are not yet time-barred for possible violations and to pursue claims where appropriate.

Original Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

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