Feb 11, 2026 /Mpelembe media/ — In its August 2025 proposal to South African regulators, SpaceX offered a multi-billion rand investment package designed to meet the country’s empowerment requirements through infrastructure and connectivity projects.
The specific infrastructure and investments offered included: Continue reading
04, Feb. 2026 /Mpelembe Media — To look back at the start of the decade is to remember a world drowning in signal-less noise. Whether it was the “Blue Carpet” spectacle of Outernet London or the surreal corporate logistics of the 2026 AVN Expo—where lanyards and coffee queues met the stark reality of a dress code regulating body concealment over formal attire—we have lived in a state of restless, digital chaos. But as we move through 2026, the tectonic realignment of our digital existence is finally settling. We are transitioning from the era of mere digital literacy into a phase of deep, agentic integration. This is the year of “The Great Grounding,” where the abstract promises of technology and the opaque maneuvers of power are finally being anchored in verifiable, actionable context.. Continue reading
03, Feb. 2026 /Mpelembe Media/ — The cybercrime division of the Paris prosecutor’s office has significantly escalated its yearlong investigation into the social media platform X. Originally opened following concerns from lawmaker Éric Bothorel regarding the platform’s algorithm, the inquiry expanded after X’s A.I. chatbot, Grok, was accused of spreading sexual deepfakes and Holocaust denial claims. Continue reading
02, Feb. 2026 /Mpelembe Media/ — The Department of Justice (DOJ) released a final tranche of documents on January 30, 2026, totaling over 3.5 million pages, 2,000 videos, and 180,000 images. While the DOJ identified over 6 million potentially responsive pages, it released only about half, discarding duplicates and non-relevant materials, and has declared its review complete and its legal obligations met. This assertion has drawn bipartisan criticism from lawmakers like Rep. Ro Khanna and Rep. Thomas Massie, who question why millions of pages remain withheld and are demanding access to unredacted files. Continue reading
Jan. 9, 2026 /Mpelembe Media/ — When we talk about Grok in the context of physical robots (like Tesla’s Optimus humanoid), we aren’t just talking about a chatbot. We are talking about the “brain” that translates digital sentiment into physical action. The reason “mood swings” and sentiment analysis matter for robots is that they move AI from being a calculator to being a collaborator. For a robot to operate safely and naturally around humans, it must “grok” (deeply understand) the emotional context of its environment. Continue reading
Lars Cornelissen, Manchester Metropolitan University; Independent Social Research Foundation
Prime Minister Keir Starmer thinks that racism is returning to British society. He has accused Nigel Farage’s Reform UK of sowing “toxic division” with its “racist rhetoric”.
Tom Felle, University of Galway
Media freedom has long been essential to healthy democracy. It is the oxygen that fuels informed debate, exposes corruption and holds power to account. But around the world, that freedom is under sustained attack.
Craig Robertson, University of Oxford
When Elon Musk took over Twitter and changed its name to X, many users vowed to move to another platform. First was talk of a shift to Mastodon that never seemed to catch on. Then Meta tried to make Threads appealing by linking the app to Instagram – but this hasn’t had much cut-through either.
Metricool, a global social media management platform, is taking social media strategy to the next level with the launch of its Bluesky Social integration. Free and Premium Metricool users can now schedule, manage and auto-publish “skeets” – Bluesky’s signature posts – alongside other social platforms, creating a centralized hub for community engagement. Continue reading
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By Adam Smith | Tech correspondent Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is suing X (formerly Twitter) in French courts for enabling the spread of disinformation, identity theft and defamation. Continue reading |