It's hard to watch people who are vulnerable get sucked in like this. I'll just say this:
Cults make people do things they don't want to do or wouldn't normally do. I'll repeat: CULTS MAKE PEOPLE DO THINGS THEY DON'T WANT TO DO. If you say you don't want to do what they tell you to do, they'll coerce, shame, blame, and threaten you if you don't want to do what you're told to do. The leaders will do it themselves, but they'll also use other cult members to apply the required pressure to make you submit.
When you're in a cult, you don't know you're in one until something terrible happens that brings on the questions, because if you're not asking questions, you'll never get out. And cult leaders and their devoted followers hate when you ask questions, because questions will usually lead to you walking out of the physical or virtual doors.
What's difficult about this particular cult is they're a "virtual cult" - they mostly didn't live anywhere near each other. It was all happening over the Internet. Unlike the other cults we've heard of, this cult existed almost entirely in the virtual world, so entirely in the minds of its members. No one was physically prevented from leaving, but in their minds they were trapped. Asking questions is how all former cult members manage to escape.
It's a tough watch. I can't recommend watching, but if you have an interest in cults, or think you have been subjected to a person or group of people who have made you do things you didn't want to do, then watch and ask questions of the world around you. You might be in one and not even know it.
