The dispute between US tech entrepreneur Elon Musk and the public broadcaster ZDF is causing a major stir across Germany.

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In its coverage of last week’s anti-immigrant riots in Belfast, an edition of “ZDFheute live” said that Musk had called for “a migrant hunt” in his social media posts about Northern Ireland.

On Monday, Musk called ZDF’s characterisation of his words a “terrible lie” and said he was pursuing legal action against the broadcaster, which has since removed the contested passage.

On 9 June, Musk shared a post by British far-right activist Tommy Robinson in which Robinson, following the knife attack by a Sudanese man in Belfast, called for protests.

Musk commented: “Only by protesting REPEATEDLY and LOUDLY will there be any change!!”

ZDF has since confirmed “that Elon Musk, via a German law firm, demanded a cease-and-desist declaration concerning the opening presentation of the 12 June 2026 edition of ‘ZDFheute live’ entitled ‘Riots in Belfast – How Musk is fuelling the protests.’ ZDF has complied and removed the disputed passage from the introduction. As early as Saturday, ZDF had added a corrective transparency note to the programme.”

The broadcaster added a disclaimer to the online version of the broadcast in question in which it admitted that its words were “imprecise and potentially misleading.”

According to the BBC, the US-based Centre for Countering Digital Hate said social media had played a “key role” in stoking the violence in Belfast.

At the same time, the organisation accused Musk of having amplified “anti-migrant narratives” spread by others and extended their reach to millions of users.

Support from the German right

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) came out in support of Musk in the row with ZDF.

Joining in on the debate, AfD co-leader Alice Weidel posted on X saying: “Defamation shouldn’t go without consequences. Don’t let them get away with it.”

Musk has been a vocal supporter of the AfD in recent years and has also backed other far-right parties in Europe.

The row is being further fuelled by editor-in-chief of the right-wing news portal, Julian Reichelt.

The former editor-in-chief of the daily tabloid Bild wrote on X: “Lerchenberg is a fortress of lies. ZDF simply invents the claim that Elon Musk ‘called for a hunt for migrants.’ In fact, Musk wrote on X: “Only by protesting REPEATEDLY and LOUDLY will there be any change!!” How much longer are we going to accept that this state forces us to pay for the propaganda lies it tells us? And how can it be that at ZDF heute there is constant lying, deception and manipulation with words and AI, without any personal consequences?’”

In his statement in support of Musk, Reichelt also mentioned Germany’s public broadcasting licence fees, whose abolition the AfD has made one of its flagship policy points.

Additional sources • AFP

SOCIAL MEDIA AND VIDEO NETWORKS  — such as Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube — have emerged as the leading source of news, even surpassing the websites and apps of established news organizations. A new study has warned that news consumers around the world are turning away from traditional media outlets, posing a risk to old-style business models.

As per the 15th edition of Reuter’s Institute Digital News Report 2026, trust in news globally is at its lowest since 2015. At the same time, consumers display a preference of using third-party platforms such as social media apps and other video networks to get access to news rather than through websites and television channels of established news brands.

The Digital News Report 2026 is a collaborative study between Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism and the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai, which analyzed over l lakh people across 48 markets worldwide using an online survey to assess their news consumption patterns and preferences.

See also: Australia has already banned social media for under 16s – Here’s What the UK can learn from the experience

Reuters Report Highlights Shift in Global News Consumption 

The study reveals that the global consumption pattern has seen a shift, marked by audiences’ increasing withdrawal from news consumption. However, trust in established news brands and support for the idea of impartial news still exists. Despite all this, social media and video networks such as Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube have emerged as the most widely used means for accessing news, even ahead of news organization’s own websites and apps. 

54% of the respondents said they get news from social media and video platforms, which rose to 56% if AI chatbots like ChatGPT were included. That surpassed the 52% who picked TV news, 51% for newspaper apps or websites, and 21% for radio.

The trend of using social media and video networks as the primary source for news is more evident among young people, however the study found that the same is prevalent across all other age groups as well. It was also reported that young consumers are more likely to mimic the news consumption patterns of their parents, such as reading a newspaper. The older generations are, in place, adopting the consumption habits of the younger generation (using social media and video networks).

AI Chatbots Emerging as a New Source of News 

The study also found a starting statistic that points out the correlation between Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbots and news consumption. 10% of the study’s respondents, who are below 35 years of age, reported to use AI chatbots to access news.

Paradoxically, as the credibility of traditional news outlets decline amid the rise of social media and video platforms, users also reported to be concerned about misinformation and put less trust in the news they come across.

See also: Would The Government Restrict Community Notes On Social Media Posts? MeitY Invites Public Opinions On Draft Information Technology Rules, 2021

Online Video News Consumption Continues to Rise 

Consumption of video-based news has also seen a marked shift, the study stated. 77% of the respondents reported consuming online news videos every week. This consumption of online news videos is happening on third-party platforms like YouTube and Facebook, and not on the websites and apps of traditional media outlets.

Influencers Play a Growing Role in News Distribution 

The study also highlighted the role digital content creators and influencers play in the news ecosystem, with 27 % of respondents revealing them as their news sources. Influencers have not wholly replaced traditional media, instead, they complement them. 

While influencers reported to have less credibility in their news dissemination ability, they were able to compensate for that by being interesting and entertaining in the way they present news, making them easier for the audience to comprehend as well. The study stated that these findings mean users are not wholly shying away from consuming news from traditional media outlets, instead they want news presented to them in an accessible and relatable manner.

A regional analyst says fears that President Donald Trump could “flip” on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu amid a critical push for a U.S.-Iran peace agreement are growing in Jerusalem, a concern highlighted Sunday after the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) struck Beirut for a second time.

Despite U.S. warnings that any strikes would derail a breakthrough with Tehran, the strikes came as Netanyahu prepared to convene Israel’s Security Cabinet and after Trump announced a new U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding (MOU) was expected to be signed imminently.

“The strikes today in Beirut are creating issues with finalizing the deal,” a diplomat involved in the talks with Tehran told Fox News Chief Foreign Correspondent Trey Yingst, adding that they were “a clear attempt by Israel to sabotage the president’s deal and drag the United States back into war.”

Trump went on to condemn Israel’s strikes in a post on Truth Social, also telling Axios that Netanyahu had “no f—ing judgment.”

WHY TRUMP KEEPS FLIPPING ON IRAN: A PRESIDENT WHO SEES THE WORLD AS HE WANTS IT TO BE

Natan Sachs, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, noted there was “absolutely this fear in the Israeli government,” calling it “a rational and healthy fear” over the pending deal.

He said a strategic chasm existed between the two allies, contrasting Netanyahu’s doctrine of sustained, long-term military pressure with Trump’s pursuit of immediate diplomatic victories.

“Now there is a sense in Israel that Trump may be growing weary of Netanyahu and the Israelis, and many others believe that if he got sick and tired of him, he could break norms in other directions and flip on Israel,” Sachs, an Israeli foreign policy expert, told Fox News Digital.

With discussions underway through Pakistani mediation, the Israeli prime minister’s office released a statement shortly after Trump announced the possible deal with Tehran on June 11.

Jerusalem “is not a party to the memorandum of understanding” between Washington and Tehran, Netanyahu said before reiterating on June 12 that Iran was “working to destroy the Jewish state.” He assured Israelis he had dedicated his life to “preventing them from doing so.”

On Sunday, a senior Israeli official also said Hezbollah attacks had targeted Israeli civilians for the previous three days as Israel prepared for Iranian retaliation.

NETANYAHU DECLARES ISRAEL ‘WILL EXACT THE FULL PRICE’ AFTER IRANIAN STRIKE HITS HOSPITAL IN ISRAEL

Trump had already criticized Netanyahu during a phone call earlier this month, reportedly calling him “crazy” over a first strike on Beirut that was complicating the administration’s negotiations with Iran.

“It’s not just that there seems to be a crisis — and there were clearly expletives used by the president toward the prime minister on the backdrop of a joint and large military operation,” Sachs said.

“Israel and Netanyahu had first looked at Trump and saw both enormous carrots and enormous potential sticks,” Sachs said of the start of Operation Epic Fury and Roaring Lion on Feb. 28.

“Trump was a huge opportunity for Netanyahu because he was willing to break the mold on anything, but Israel has made a potentially strategic, historic mistake in putting all its eggs in one basket,” he added.

“Netanyahu was always prepared for the long haul,” Sachs said. “And the long haul is not four months; the long haul is years. Trump likes quick wins. Once the quick win did not materialize — and it did not — now you have a whole new set of problems.”

“Trump’s preference seemed far from pursuing a much broader campaign aimed at achieving the goals that Israel prefers, and he also has a much narrower conception of what a deal would be,” he added.

TRUMP MEETS NETANYAHU, SAYS HE WANTS IRAN DEAL BUT REMINDS TEHRAN OF ‘MIDNIGHT HAMMER’ OPERATION

Sachs noted, however, that Trump and Netanyahu broadly shared goals on curbing Iran’s nuclear ambitions, eliminating Hezbollah’s armed presence in Lebanon and establishing a post-Hamas future for Gaza.

But he said, “having that wish list is not the same as having a strategic goal. They haven’t both committed to them as strategic goals that dictate concerted action going forward.”

Sachs also argued that tensions between Trump and Netanyahu reflect different temperaments.

“Netanyahu thinks of himself as a strategic thinker — very able, and of course, he has a very high opinion of himself — but he is completely different,” he observed.

“Netanyahu is an erudite, well-educated, patient, highly suspicious and extremely pessimistic man by nature. His self-image is more, ‘I have thought everything through in ways you could not, because I’m smarter than you.’

“He’s very suspicious of everyone around him, and he’s been surrounded by this same coterie of individuals for decades.”

“In terms of personality and where they come from, their worldview is also actually very different,” Sachs added.

“You can’t imagine Netanyahu spending hours at night on social media. He doesn’t go on it himself, and it’s hard to imagine President Trump spending hours reading books, which Netanyahu likes to portray himself as doing. I doubt he has time for it, but that is an image he projects, and I think it is partially true.”

“Netanyahu also believes you live with a problem, you manage it, and you kick the can down the road. Trump is the opposite.”

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“The U.S. may turn away and be uninterested; Israel simply does not think it has that privilege,” Sachs said.

“Netanyahu and Trump have very different time horizons, and that is partly geography and interest — and partly personality.”