A Borderless Sect: How the Chinese “Church of Almighty God” Recruits Ukrainians via Facebook
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Global threats are not limited to wars, cyberattacks, or disinformation campaigns. The digital space has also been occupied by less visible—yet no less aggressive—actors whose target is human trust and whose method is manipulation.
This is precisely the story of the so-called “Church of Almighty God”—a Chinese sect also known as “Eastern Lightning.” It emerged in China in the late 20th century and built its doctrine on the claim that Christ has allegedly already returned in the body of a Chinese woman. In the mid-1990s, Chinese authorities banned the sect, but the network itself did not disappear—it expanded beyond China and is now recruiting people in various countries, including Ukraine.
Representatives of the “CAG” do not come to your door in black cloaks with brochures and a doorbell ring. They enter through social media feeds—especially Facebook—in the form of touching images, AI-generated videos with religious icons, posts about soldiers “whom no one congratulated,” and puppies “looking for a home.” All of this works as emotional bait: people like and share these posts, CAG pages gain reach, social media algorithms push them to new audiences, and eventually, users are drawn into closed chats.
At this stage, it appears that CAG’s primary goal is the indoctrination of followers. At the same time, there have previously been allegations of intimidation and extortion for “salvation.” In any case, a structure that deceives people into joining closed communities, systematically “processes” them, and subordinates them to its doctrine creates a controlled circle of loyal followers and an environment where people are much easier to manipulate.
Read more https://www.stopfake.org/en/a-borderless-sect-how-the-chinese-church-of-almighty-god-recruits-ukrainians-via-facebook/
Content retrieved from: https://www.stopfake.org/en/a-borderless-sect-how-the-chinese-church-of-almighty-god-recruits-ukrainians-via-facebook/.
