On Sunday evening, ZDF’s “Heute‑Journal” aired a segment about the deportation of minors by US ICE authorities, but the program later revealed that it had shown false footage. ZDF admitted the mistake, apologized, and explained that an AI‑generated clip from the internet-depicting children clinging to their mother-had been used without the required labeling or contextualisation, violating the network’s guidelines. A second clip featuring a child being removed was genuine footage, but it originated from a different 2022 context. The broadcaster has removed the unauthorized material from all platforms and will issue a correction to the same show later that evening. Deputy editor‑in‑chief Anne Gellinek stated that the segment did not meet ZDF’s standards and expressed regret over the errors.
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