CultNEWS101 Newsletter: 7/24/2026
Patrick Ryan
Legislative & LegalViệt Nam penalizes six multi-level marketing companies
In 2025, Việt Nam’s National Competition Commission fined six licensed multi-level marketing (MLM) companies a total of VNĐ1.31 billion (approximately US$49,600) for various regulatory violations. The companies penalized include Seacret Vietnam Co., Ltd. (which received the largest fine of VNĐ455 million), Mỹ Lợi Trading, Best World Vietnam, Elken International Vietnam, Unicity Marketing Vietnam, and Care For Vietnam.
Inspections revealed widespread non-compliance in business operations, reporting, and participant management. Specific breaches involved failing to update business registrations, operating without provincial approvals, neglecting distributor supervision, and ignoring training requirements. Furthermore, some firms failed the legal mandate requiring at least 20 percent of their annual sales revenue to come from customers outside their distributor networks.
The regulator issued a strict order to all six companies to immediately rectify their operations. Despite these violations and 25 related complaints, authorities report that Việt Nam's MLM sector, comprising 15 licensed companies, remains stable and is under very strict supervision.
SciencePsychology Today: Chart of Coercion in Cults
In the article, Fontes adapts Albert Biderman’s 1957 Chart of Coercion—originally developed to explain how torturers break the wills of prisoners of war—to illustrate the manipulative tactics employed by cults and high-demand groups.
Fontes argues that "coercive control," a framework frequently applied to domestic violence, is exactly the right term for understanding how cult leaders systematically entrap their followers. She explains that rather than relying on a single abusive act, leaders weave a broad, restrictive web of tactics designed to dominate members and strip them of vital resources, including their money, health, and connections to outside family and friends.
Crucially, Fontes notes that coercion in these environments is highly diffused. While a leader dictates and whimsically changes major rules, the members themselves are conditioned to actively police and pressure one another into total submission, eliminating any room for spontaneity or nonconformity. Her adapted chart categorizes these systemic abuses into recognizable tactics, including engineered isolation, induced exhaustion, targeted degradation, relentless micromanagement, and occasional indulgences that reinforce trauma bonds.
Ultimately, Fontes provides this adapted chart as a practical assessment tool for mental health, advocacy, educational, and legal settings. By clearly mapping out these mechanisms of mind control, the chart helps professionals identify high-demand groups and explains exactly why escaping them is so psychologically challenging.
Growing concern over online cults – Recent commentary examines how extremist and high-control groups increasingly recruit through Discord, gaming platforms, and social media, making them more difficult for families and authorities to detect.
Beyond Pointing: What Is the Matter With Mooji? – A Detailed Overview
In the article “What Is the Matter With Mooji? – A Detailed Overview” on the blog Beyond Pointing, the author critically examines the structural and psychological hazards embedded in Mooji's spiritual teachings. While public perception of Mooji oscillates between profound reverence and severe allegations—ranging from psychological manipulation to sexual misconduct—the article focuses primarily on the insidious nature of his pedagogical framework rather than the scandals alone.
The author argues that Mooji employs traditional contemplative vocabulary, such as "liberation," "awareness," and "the Self," but structurally repurposes these concepts to foster dependency and psychological destabilization. At the core of this issue is a "low-falsifiability" spiritual system that systematically downgrades individual personhood and invalidates critical thinking. By elevating an impersonal "witness-consciousness," the teaching frames natural skepticism, emotional distress, and rational doubt as mere manifestations of the "ego" or "mind" resisting spiritual progress. Consequently, cognitive dissonance and psychological distress are reinterpreted as necessary milestones on the path to enlightenment rather than warning signs of manipulation or abuse.
Furthermore, the author highlights a problematic logical leap in Mooji’s methodology: the transition from a valid contemplative practice—such as observing one's thoughts—to sweeping metaphysical assertions that the personal self lacks authority or reality. This leap creates a closed interpretive loop where the teacher’s perspective becomes the sole arbiter of truth. Ultimately, the article contends that Mooji’s framework strips away the discernment, moral seriousness, and humility inherent in mature spiritual traditions, replacing them with a procedural engine that subverts independent judgment and exacerbates vulnerability under the guise of spiritual awakening.
AI Research Disclosure: To bring you the most relevant stories, parts of this newsletter utilize artificial intelligence (AI) tools to search the web, source articles, and assist with content curation. This content is for informational purposes only; we recommend verifying critical facts independently.
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