The Justice Report is a reader supported publication. Support our work by becoming a paid subscriber or making a one-time donation.
Warsaw, Poland – A key pillar of the open source intelligence (OSINT) community on Telegram is being paid to mute criticism of Israel, the Justice Report has learned.
The staggering allegations come at a time when President Donald Trump has openly called for the ethnic cleansing of the Gaza Strip to make way for lucrative beachfront properties, a proposal that has sparked international condemnation.
According to an anonymous insider, the self-professed “Ultra-Right” and “Pro-Christian” Telegram news aggregator Bellum Acta claims they are currently being paid $10,000 for “pro-Israel” and so-called “Pro-Western” news content by Visegrád 24.
Bellum Acta, an influential mainstay of right-wing Telegram, is a Brazilian OSINT channel that commands an international audience of over 100,000 subscribers. Known for reposting news and viral videos of emerging conflicts, many Telegram channels frequently share Bellum Acta posts as a “reliable” name in news.
The channel has also been notable for its positive coverage of President Trump, particularly his actions and foreign policy, which often align with those of Israel.
A search for “Israel” on Bellum Acta’s public page returns 6,612 results, with each post attracting thousands of views from Telegram users. While earlier posts contained language critical of Jews and Israel, recent posts on these topics have taken a more neutral and aloof tone. One post from last week referenced the IDF canceling all vacations and recalling soldiers to their units as preparation for “a powerful maneuver in Gaza!”
Bellum Acta’s willingness to accept money in exchange for exposure on its Telegram channel is public knowledge. Despite the seriousness in which it takes its news and conflict reporting, the group’s admins openly offer a “pay for play” business model and, in the past, have promoted dubious cryptocurrencies, including at least one coin based around the cartoon “thug-shakers,” a Black homoerotic meme.
However, an anonymous insider revealed that Bellum Acta refused to promote their venture due to content deemed critical of Israel and the Trump administration. When asked why, they were informed that doing so would violate an ongoing agreement with Visegrád 24, who is allegedly paying them $10,000 for pro-Israel and “Pro-Western” content for approximately the next six months.
The implication that right-wing Telegram channels are being paid to mute their criticism of the Jewish state amid its ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip is monumental. One person close to the matter advised that any information published on Bellum Acta is now suspect and should be viewed with the utmost scrutiny going forward.
The allegations also raise significant doubts surrounding the integrity of other big-name Telegram OSINT channels, which many have become reliant on for daily news consumption. It would not be out of the realm of possibility to assume that other channels have been offered similar deals by Visegrád 24.
Visegrád 24 is an Eastern European news aggregator founded in 2020 by Stefan Tompson, a London-born Polish/South African PR specialist.
The outlet claims to promote “ethical journalism” which combats what it calls online “disinformation.” However, the organization has faced multiple accusations of airing “fake news,” including a notable incident in which it falsely reported that Leonardo DiCaprio had donated $10 million to Ukraine.
Despite this, Tompson’s Visegrád 24 rose to prominence for its pro-NATO coverage of the Russian Special Military Operation in Ukraine in 2022. After Hamas’ Al Aqsa Flood raid on October 7, 2023, the outlet’s popularity surged, reportedly outperforming even mainstream news outlets in views and clicks, according to a study by the University of Washington’s Center for an Informed Public.
With over 1.3 million followers and an average of 1 billion monthly social media views, Visegrád 24 is said to have directly influenced the political views of X/Twitter owner Elon Musk, who currently serves as a top advisor in the Administration of President Donald Trump.
In a January 2024 interview with the New York Sun, Tompson admitted to a “pro-Israeli bias,” stating, “I don’t want Visegrád to be an impartial news source. I don’t think there is such a thing as impartial. Hamas is absolutely in the wrong, as is Russia’s Putin.”
He elaborated further in an interview with the Jewish Chronicle: “I am a man of the West. As a British and Polish patriot, I can see that Israel is inextricably linked to my way of life. Our fates are interwoven.”
Visegrád 24‘s geopolitical stance is not without a long list of detractors. Many have sternly rebuked Tompson’s propaganda outlet for sharing false information directly from the Israeli Mossad. This has led some to describe Visegrád 24 as “vicious” and “ape-like” in its defense of Israel and has even drawn accusations that the channel is merely a front for NATO and Polish military intelligence.
Visegrád 24‘s shameless promotion of the “genocidal” state of Israel and the alleged war crimes of the IDF is “powered” by the Intermarium Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in which Tompson is a board member.
According to the foundation’s 2023 IRS 990-N—a form submitted by non-profit organizations with annual revenues under $50,000—the foundation’s principal officer is the well-traveled venture capitalist Dominik Andrzejczuk.
The foundation maintains a public donation page on the Visegrád 24 website, where they encourage users to contribute to the Intermarium Foundation to support “ethical” open-source journalism and defend what they describe as “Western values.”
Their Givebutter page goes further by asserting that the “West is under attack” from two primary adversaries, “Radical Progressives” and “Nefarious States,” specifically naming Russia, Iran, China, and Qatar. They also claim that “Visegrád 24 is the frontier of modern journalism for Western values.”
The page boasts that the foundation has reached 7.5 billion impressions on X/Twitter in the past 12 months, with an average of 500 million monthly impressions, all on a “shoestring budget” of $200,000 over the last year.
This suggests a significant increase in donations for the 2024 tax year—potentially quadrupling the at-most $50,000 reported on their 2023 IRS 990-N—likely driven by their pro-Israel coverage, despite Israel not being cited or even mentioned on their public donation pages.
A separate website, distinct from the main Visegrád 24 website, is listed for the Intermarium Foundation in their 2023 990-N form, though it does not appear to be widely circulated online.
The website is bare bones, consisting of just a few pages with general information about “Intermarium” and a brief biography section for Stefan Tompson and Dominik Andrzejczuk.
This website also features a donation page. However, instead of focusing on ‘Western values,’ the page highlights their ongoing coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict, touting Visegrád 24’s ability to combat “pro-Palestine propaganda” and “pro-Palestinian bias” it insists is prevalent across social media.
Additionally, the Intermarium Foundation’s official Guidestar page—which tracks registered nonprofit data—states the organization explicitly serves the “Jewish population” and makes no mention of Christians or White Europeans in its classification.
Despite widespread global condemnation of Israel’s ongoing ‘genocidal’ war on the Palestinian people, Jewish organizations and the Israeli state have committed millions of dollars to shape public opinion worldwide.
The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs has dedicated considerable resources to controlling and influencing public opinion in the digital sphere. In December, reports revealed that the Israeli government plans a significant expansion of its “hasbara” efforts in its 2025 budget, with the foreign ministry set to receive an additional $150 million—marking a 20-fold increase in funding.
It hopes that by doing so, the Jewish state can gin up support for continued attacks against not only those still languishing inside Gaza but a slew of regional enemies present in places like Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Iran, Iraq, and the occupied West Bank.
The Justice Report would like to remind its readers that this publication survives purely on the generosity of our readers and paid subscribers and is in no way beholden to corporate or foreign influence. Consider becoming a paid subscriber on Substack or our website to support our work.
Have a story? Please forward any tips or leads to the editors at [email protected]
