Elon Musk announces legal action against ZDF over Belfast riot reporting

Musk's amplification of Belfast protests

Elon Musk shared a post by British far-right activist Tommy Robinson on his platform X in early June, calling for nationwide protests after a video of a brutal knife attack by a Sudanese migrant in Belfast went viral. Musk wrote to his 240 million followers: 'Only if we protest REPEATEDLY and LOUDLY will anything change.' The post was part of a wave of content from Robinson and Rupert Lowe, leader of the far-right party Restore UK, that fueled violent demonstrations across Northern Ireland.

ZDF's contested report

In a segment of 'ZDFheute live,' presenter Christina von Ungern-Sternberg linked Musk directly to calls for violence, saying a 'racist mob' hunted migrants and that a British far-right extremist and 'tech billionaire Elon Musk had called for this.' German journalist Julian Reichelt, former editor-in-chief of Bild, publicly accused ZDF of 'propaganda lies,' arguing that Musk never used such language. ZDF later admitted the wording was 'unprecise and therefore misleading.'

The wording was imprecise and therefore misleading.

Legal threat on X

On Monday evening, Musk responded to Reichelt's criticism by announcing legal steps. He posted: 'Legal action is being taken against ZDF for its outrageous lies.' The statement came after Reichelt shared a photo of what appeared to be ZDF's acknowledgement of the imprecise wording. Reichelt continued to demand that ZDF be 'dismantled,' while other journalists like WELT's Anna Schneider and NDR's Sebastian Eberle also condemned the report as factually wrong.

The ZDF falsely attributes a statement to Musk that he never made.

That is not how we can work. This is completely unacceptable.

Researchers quantify Musk's influence

The Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) published findings on June 12 showing that posts by Musk, Robinson, and Lowe together reached over 115 million views. Musk alone accounted for 64 million, or 55 percent. CCDH founder Imran Ahmed emphasized that Musk's amplification was 'decisive' and that nobody played a bigger role in spreading anti-migrant narratives on X.

Musk has unprecedented power to influence what people see online, and with that power comes responsibility for the content and behavior his platform promotes.

Background: The Belfast unrest

Since June 8, violent anti-immigrant protests had escalated in the Belfast area, with demonstrators throwing stones, setting vehicles and houses on fire, and clashing with police who used water cannons. The trigger was the circulation of a video showing a Sudanese migrant committing a knife attack. Far-right activists, including Robinson, organized the protests, which persisted for several days.