Scientology recruitment rarely looks the way people imagine. There is no shadowy figure pulling you into a back room. The process is warm, and, for a curious young person, entirely easy to be “handled” and sucked in. Amir Essalhi was 18 years old and studying film when he first walked into the Edinburgh organization in late 2022. He had never heard of Hubbard. He did not know who David Miscavige was. He knew one thing: He was into being an aspiring filmmaker, and loved Tom Cruise. When he was shown a Scientology recruitment video with Tom Cruise his curiosity to know more was the tool used to manipulate him.

Less than two years later, Amir was running the group's social media strategy across TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram, delivering public lectures, and serving as one of the senior executives of the only Scientology organization in Scotland's capital. He was 19. I spoke with Amir twice, first on a live stream, and then on my Cults, Culture & Coercion podcast. What he shared in both conversations is something every young person, and every parent of a young person, needs to hear. Scientology has been all over some social media channels as some people were running into Scientology buildings and posting the video of their illegal trespassing. I have been vocal criticizing this as has Leah Remini- whose original show I was on as a guest.

Many of the platforms Scientology uses to reach young people carry no Scientology branding at all. Amir confirmed that promotional materials would sometimes run under names like "Dianetics" or localized event names, with "Scientology" buried in fine print or absent entirely. The group also uses front organizations, including Narconon (drug rehabilitation), the Citizens Commission on Human Rights, and Drug Free World, none of which disclose their Scientology ties in their public-facing materials. Destructive authoritarian cults know that if they give fully informed consent, no one would ever get involved.

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