Overview

• ZDF-Intendant Norbert Himmler and the broadcaster’s supervisory council unanimously condemned harassment and threats against the two journalists as beyond legitimate criticism.
• Hayali received hate messages and death threats after her heute-journal remarks on Charlie Kirk and has taken a short break from social media.
• The petition “Schluss mit anonymem Internet-Hass!” has surpassed 117,000 signatures, pressing Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig and Meta’s Tino Krause for faster prosecutions, better resourcing, mandatory reporting of criminal content, and ID checks to curb fake accounts.
• ZDF acknowledged self-scrutiny after Elmar Theveßen’s inaccurate claim about Kirk and noted that corrections were made while reaffirming support for its reporters.
• Analysts describe a patterned, right-wing amplification of the outrage largely via X, and ZDF also raised concern over planned U.S. limits cutting journalist visa validity to 240 days.