ZDF Signs Musk’s Cease-and-Desist Over False Claims
German public broadcaster ZDF agreed to sign a cease and desist declaration after falsely reporting that Elon Musk incited a racist mob to hunt migrants, according to his German attorney.
Attorney Joachim Steinhöfel confirmed the development to Junge Freiheit, following legal action initiated on behalf of the American billionaire against the state-funded network.
The dispute centers on a broadcast segment from the ZDF program “ZDF heute live” in which presenter Christina von Ungern-Sternberg introduced a report by claiming Musk had incited a “racist mob” on social media to “hunt migrants.” The program further alleged that Musk had exploited violent crimes, including an attempted beheading by a Sudanese national in Belfast, to “call for civil war.”
Throughout the half-hour segment, the broadcast repeatedly suggested Musk had a vested interest in the subsequent protests in Northern Ireland. Those demonstrations saw multiple residential buildings, shops, and vehicles set ablaze, with 42 police officers injured and 30 protesters arrested, according to BBC reporting.
Musk responded swiftly to the broadcast on social media, announcing he would pursue legal action against what he termed “outrageous lies.”
The cease and desist complaint, cited by German newspaper Die Welt, stated that the allegation that Musk had called for a “hunt for migrants” by a “racist mob” was demonstrably false.
After receiving multiple complaints about the presenter’s remarks, the editorial team at “ZDF heute live” added a disclaimer to the online version of the broadcast, acknowledging that the wording had been “imprecise and therefore misleading.”
The case represents another high-profile legal challenge to European public broadcasting by Musk, who has been increasingly vocal in his criticism of what he characterizes as biased reporting by state-funded media outlets across the continent.
With information from Junge Freiheit
