Somebody is paying influencers to post against Kalshi, and Current Revolt was approached by a Spanish-language news agency to pump an anti-Kalshi article in exchange for cash.
On September 29th, a media outlet called Media Oriente DM’d our X account asking if we would quote-post something against Kalshi in exchange for payment. Current Revolt asked questions to see how the scheme worked:
Paid-for posts are becoming more commonplace online. Influencers and online figures have taken cash under-the-table in exchange for pushing everything from promoting candidates, to green energy, to defending taxpayer funded soda.
Oftentimes these posts are made by influencers who don’t disclose they’re being paid. These pay-for-play political posts are essentially a form of paid propaganda and lobbying. For a product, the FTC already says a paid post has to say it’s paid, and it sent the soda lobby’s influencers warning letters over it. For politics and policy there’s no rule at all.
Media Oriente stated that disclosure of payment wasn’t required and provided a message along with a Zero Hedge post/article that needed to be simply copied and pasted on the Current Revolt X account in order to be paid:
Media Oriente sent a Confidentiality Agreement from Neewz.io, Inc. to sign before the $90 moved. Media Oriente said payment would be sent via bank transfer. Current Revolt never signed any documents or accepted any money:
The NDA:
Hours later, Media Oriente messaged to say they found someone else to post the anti-Kalshi post:
Current Revolt reviewed who quote-posted the Zero Hedge article. An account belonging to someone named Joey Meugniot quote-posted with the exact verbiage that Media Oriente originally shopped to Current Revolt in exchange for cash. Meugniot’s account posted the 49-word text word for word at 12:38 PM, nine minutes after Media Oriente told us they no longer needed Current Revolt to post:
The anti-Kalshi post by Meugniot had 78 reposts from anonymous new accounts:
Additionally, a notable number of strange accounts have quote-posted Meugniot’s post with strange messaging:
Current Revolt reached out to Media Oriente for comment on the story. No response was received in time for publication.
There is limited information available on Neewz.io, Inc.
An article by Produ.com lists CEO Rodrigo Gonzales and Jonathan Blum regarding their Neewz.AI platform with contact information using Neewz.io domain names:
The NEEWZ.AI platform, led by CEO Rodrigo Gonzales, which enables media organizations to discover, verify, and license user-generated content (UGC) in real time, is offering free access to media outlets, journalists, influencers, and rescue workers to provide verified information from content creators about rescue and relief efforts following the double earthquake in Venezuela, amid the country’s information blackout. Those interested can contact Gonzales at rodrigo@neewz.io and/or Jonathan Blum at jonathan@neewz.io to obtain access.
Their company has a registered-agent office in Delaware and mostly markets to Spanish-language Latin America. They say they are an AI-verified news agency.
They also offer options for “creators” to monetize their platform:
Current Revolt reached out to both Rodrigo Gonzales and Jonathan Blum from Neewz.AI for comment.
Neewz provided the following statement this morning at 5:02 AM:
“As a matter of company policy, NEEWZ does not confirm, disclose or comment on the identity of its clients, prospective clients, campaigns, potential engagements or other confidential business relationships in response to media inquiries. Protecting the confidentiality of our clients and business partners is an important part of how we operate.
More generally, NEEWZ expects all activities conducted as part of its authorized campaigns to comply with the laws, regulations and platform requirements applicable to the relevant campaign and market, including applicable requirements concerning sponsored content and disclosures.
For the same reasons, we are not in a position to comment on confidential or prospective projects or initiatives that may be under consideration or development in the United States or elsewhere.“ - NEEWZ Team
Joey Meugniot identifies as a policy & geopolitical advisor out of Washington, DC / Rome, Italy.
Meugniot already had numerous posts on X that are critical of Kalshi dating all the way back to July of this year.
While his X account only has 29k followers, Meugniot’s Instagram account has 212k followers:
Meugniot runs a “consultancy” firm called Ad Victoriam Consulting claiming to be based out of Washington, D.C. and Rome. The website names no clients or case studies.
The firm’s motto is “Acta, Non Verba” which translates to “Acts, not words”, where the act here was copy-pasting 49 of someone else’s words.
Ad Victoriam claims to have 5M+ followers across its social media network.
Did Meugniot get the $90? There’s no way to confirm. He didn’t respond to multiple attempts for comment.
Media Oritene’s CEO, Dani Lerer, mentioned they’re hosting an event this month along with Neewz.ai regarding artificial intelligence, disinformation, consumption habits, and credibility:
Disinformation and credibility, huh?
Disclosure:
Kalshi is a sponsor of Current Revolt.
You can sign up for an account with Kalshi to give your own prediction here.
Check out the current Texas Senate market:
Dani Lerer of Media Oriente has a lot to say about the Middle East (Spanish-English: Media-Middle, Oriente-East), terrorism:
https://www.google.com/search?q=Dani+Lerer&sxsrf=APpeQnvqUtkwfMTqX9ua_-eKYa_cmiQKfg:1791403251571&start=0
And he's an 'expert' on "disinformation":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3awVZ34IKU
(It's all in Spanish but for the text and comments I use the browser function translate to English)
Which makes him an expert on propaganda. Propagandists are considered experts in propaganda, you know.
As for Jonathan Blum...
https://www.produ.com/ushispanic/noticias/the-kitchen-adds-jonathan-blum-to-its-board-of-global-influencers/
And he's a high-end real estate agent in Miami, when he's not on the international media scene:
https://www.compass.com/agents/jonathan-blum/
"His strategic approach integrates in-depth market analysis, operational leadership, and McKinsey & Company’s results-driven methodology"
Hmmm...McKinsey & Company...where have I heard of them before?:
https://brownstone.org/articles/is-mckinsey-company-part-of-the-deep-state/
https://tobyrogers.substack.com/p/is-mckinsey-and-company-the-deep
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McKinsey_&_Company
https://www.propublica.org/article/how-mckinsey-is-making-100-million-and-counting-advising-on-the-governments-bumbling-coronavirus-response
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/08/okeefe-media-group-whistleblower-releases-screenshots-revealing-best/
Many suspect that McKinsey is a private consulting offshoot of the CIA:
https://web.archive.org/web/20200101005145/https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/12/pete-buttigieg-mckinsey/603421/
https://web.archive.org/web/20150805005152/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/cia-has-paid-millions-to-a-consulting-firm-to-help-with-reorganization/2015/07/01/b932af54-2009-11e5-aeb9-a411a84c9d55_story.html
So me thinks Current Revolt was approached by the CIA/Deep State cabal via proxy to carry its *disinformation* campaign, i.e. propaganda narrative. And remember that "disinformation" doesn't mean the information isn't true, only that it is what opponents of the release of truthful information call it.
This is how the Deep State controls the information sphere. Up close and personal.
Well dammit! I've had similar offers and just declined flat out. Never thought about getting the details first and then shining some light on it. My bad. Glad y'all went the extra mile, because paid influence is the new plague.