ZDF’s “Heute‑Journal” aired a segment on Sunday evening about the deportation of minors by the US ICE agency. The broadcast included footage that turned out to be fake.
The public broadcaster apologized on Tuesday, admitting that errors had occurred. In one part of the report it used AI‑generated images taken from the internet, showing children clinging to their mothers. According to ZDF, such a sequence should not have been shown without a proper label or context.

Another clip that showed a child being taken was real, but it came from a different 2022 event. Anne Gellinek, deputy editor‑in‑chief, said the program did not meet ZDF’s standards and that the broadcast was subsequently removed from all platforms.

A corrected version of the segment will be aired in the same spot on the Tuesday evening edition of “Heute‑Journal”.