U.S. Designates Extreme Right-Wing “Terrorgram” Network as Terrorist Group

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The U.S. government has taken a significant step in addressing extremist online networks by designating the “Terrorgram” collective as a terrorist group. This move, announced on Monday, comes with sanctions aimed at individuals and the group itself, accusing them of promoting violent white supremacy.

The U.S. State Department officially labeled the group, which primarily operates on the Telegram platform, as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist organization. In addition to the group, three of its leaders—located in Brazil, Croatia, and South Africa—were also sanctioned. These measures freeze any assets linked to the group in the U.S. and prohibit American individuals from engaging with them.

The State Department detailed that “Terrorgram” has been responsible for motivating and facilitating violent attacks, including a 2022 shooting outside an LGBTQ bar in Slovakia, a planned 2024 attack on energy facilities in New Jersey, and an August knife attack at a mosque in Turkey. The group is known for its promotion of violent white supremacist ideologies, inciting violence against perceived enemies, and providing guidance on attack methods and targets. These include critical infrastructure and government officials, as well as marginalized communities such as Black, Jewish, LGBTQ individuals, and immigrants.

In response, Telegram stated that it has a zero-tolerance policy for calls to violence and noted that it had previously removed several channels associated with “Terrorgram.” The platform emphasized that any similar content is swiftly banned upon detection.

Earlier this year, U.S. prosecutors charged two individuals linked to “Terrorgram,” accusing them of using the Telegram platform to incite a race war by soliciting attacks against various minority groups. The United Kingdom also moved to classify the “Terrorgram” collective as a terrorist organization in April, making it illegal to belong to or promote the group in the country.

This designation is part of a broader effort by U.S. President Joe Biden to combat domestic terrorism, particularly white supremacy. The Biden administration’s 2021 National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism included measures to identify and prosecute such threats while also creating deterrents to prevent U.S. citizens from joining dangerous extremist groups.

Pixxel to Launch India’s First Private Satellite Network, Targets $19 Billion Market

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Pixxel, an Indian startup backed by Google, is set to make history with the launch of India’s first private satellite network. The company will send three of its six hyperspectral imaging satellites into space aboard a SpaceX rocket from California on Tuesday. This milestone represents a major step for both Pixxel and India’s emerging private space sector.

The satellites will be positioned in a sun-synchronous orbit at around 550 kilometers above Earth, with the remaining three satellites planned for deployment in the second quarter of the year. The launch is scheduled for 10:45 a.m. Pacific Time (1845 GMT) on Tuesday, just past midnight in India, pending final approvals. The launch will take place at Vandenberg Space Force Base.

Pixxel’s founder and CEO, Awais Ahmed, revealed that the company plans to expand its fleet with 18 additional satellites, aiming to capture a share of the satellite imaging market, which is expected to reach $19 billion by 2029. This venture marks a significant achievement for the five-year-old startup, which seeks to utilize hyperspectral imaging—a technology that captures detailed data across numerous light bands. The goal is to serve industries such as agriculture, mining, environmental monitoring, and defense.

Pixxel’s hyperspectral imaging satellites offer enhanced capabilities to industries, allowing better insights for improving crop yields, monitoring resources, detecting oil spills, and tracking borders with greater precision than current technologies. According to Ahmed, the satellite imagery market currently stands at $4.3 billion, with data analysis adding another $14 billion. By 2029, the market is projected to reach $19 billion, and Pixxel believes hyperspectral imaging could secure $500 million to $1 billion of that, plus additional revenue from analysis.

The company has already signed up 65 clients, including major corporations like Rio Tinto, BP, and India’s Ministry of Agriculture, with some clients paying for data from its demo satellites. Pixxel is also in talks for defense contracts, primarily with agencies in the U.S. and India, although government procurement typically follows after satellite systems have been fully launched and operational.

Pixxel anticipates making contact with its satellites approximately two-and-a-half hours after launch, with full commercial imaging capabilities expected by mid-March. However, the company faces stiff competition from global players in the satellite industry. The United States, led by private companies like SpaceX and backed by government contracts, is the dominant force in both commercial and government satellite launches. China, with its state-supported initiatives, has rapidly expanded its presence in low Earth orbit satellites.

India holds only a 2% share of the global commercial space market, despite its significant space capabilities. The government is relying on private players like Pixxel to increase this share, with the goal of growing the country’s space sector from $8 billion to $44 billion by 2030.

To stand out, Pixxel plans to leverage its Firefly constellation, which offers a 5-meter resolution and a 40-km swathe width—superior to competitors such as Finland’s Kuva Space and San Francisco-based Orbital Sidekick, whose satellites typically have lower resolution and narrower coverage. If successful, Pixxel’s imaging capacity in the hyperspectral band could surpass that of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), a moment that would represent a significant achievement for the Indian space industry, according to Narayan Prasad, COO at Satsearch.

 

European Central Bank Joins Bluesky, Rival to Elon Musk’s X

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The European Central Bank (ECB) has started posting on the Bluesky platform, a competitor to Elon Musk’s X, formerly known as Twitter. The ECB’s move to join Bluesky comes as Musk intensifies his political campaigning in Europe, including urging voters in Germany to support a far-right party. Bluesky is one of several platforms attempting to challenge X’s dominance following Musk’s acquisition of the site.

An ECB spokesperson explained that the central bank aims to diversify its social media presence and had started engaging with several new platforms last year, making Bluesky the latest addition. The ECB’s initial post on Bluesky included an interview with its chief economist, Philip Lane, which was also shared on X. The ECB plans to continue using X alongside its new presence on Bluesky.

Musk’s political influence on X has been controversial, with critics accusing the platform of enabling the spread of misinformation. Recently, Musk hosted the leader of Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party on X, an interaction that the European Commission has stated it will monitor for disinformation. Musk has also supported Italy’s right-wing Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni.

In contrast, the ECB, under President Christine Lagarde, has focused on issues like gender equality and climate change. Musk, a vocal critic of diversity, equity, and inclusion policies, has also been outspoken against climate change efforts, supporting figures like former President Donald Trump, who has labeled climate change a hoax. Musk’s stance on the Federal Reserve has been similarly critical, calling the institution “absurdly overstaffed” and advocating for its dissolution.

Despite Bluesky’s recent growth, with 2.5 million new users added after Trump’s election, it remains much smaller than its competitors. Threads has around 252 million monthly active users, while X has approximately 317 million, according to Sensor Tower data. However, Bluesky has faced challenges with EU regulators, who criticized the platform last year for not providing essential details about its user base in the region.