‘I’ve been getting 100 messages a day’: Church of Scientology accused of intimidating UK critics
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Alex Barnes-Ross, a marketing director from east London, regularly posts YouTube videos criticising Scientology. In some of them, the former Scientologist, 29, describes his experience of joining aged 15 and becoming its London director of book sales. In others, he talks about his mental health struggles after signing a “billion-year” contract devoting himself to the organisation – only to be kicked out a few years later, labelled a “potential trouble source”.
Other videos scrutinise its finances and ask questions about alleged mistreatment at Narconon UK, a Scientology-linked rehab facility investigated by the Observer last year.
He has also organised peaceful protests – including one outside Scientology’s East Grinstead HQ in 2023 – calling on it to “stop the abuse”. The religious group has been accused of indoctrinating people, isolating them and subjecting them to intensive psychological drills, which it denies. “There are so many victims who are too afraid to speak out,” Barnes-Ross says.
He hadn’t expected it to go down well. With 1.15m views on his YouTube channel, and 10,000 subscribers, Barnes-Ross has risen over the last year to become one of the most prominent campaigners against Scientology’s practices in the UK. The group and its supporters have previously responded strongly to criticism, sending legal threats to journalists and branding their detractors “enemies of Scientology”.
But he was not prepared for the intensity of the backlash.
Over the past six months, Barnes-Ross has faced a barrage of abuse – with 6,000 posts targeted at him on X alone. At first, the posts mostly taunted him with insults, saying he looked like a “weirdo paedophile” and branding him a “rabid anti-religious bigot”. Others questioned his mental health, calling him “disturbed” and “unhinged”. “Face it … you are a schizophrenic,” said one.
More recently, the messages have accused him of “crimes”. “He knows his crimes. Stop the lies!!!!” one said. Others call him a “sexual predator”, “stalker” and harasser, claiming he was kicked out of Scientology for sexual misconduct. “The only reason any group in the world kicks someone out is because one is unethical, a criminal, a pervert, or worse,” says another.
Barnes-Ross, who strongly denies the claims, believes he has been targeted in other ways too, although proving who is behind it is difficult. Two relatives have been contacted by anonymous “members of the public” who claim to be concerned about his mental health, according to emails seen by the Observer.
On YouTube, he said his videos were “constantly” being reported for alleged privacy violations, resulting in some being removed. He has seen people loitering near his home and fears he has been followed, although he cannot evidence this. On 14 January, the Metropolitan police launched an investigation after his doorbell camera captured a man peering through his front door with his face covered. Two nights later, a glass panel was broken and a man was filmed sprinting away.
It remains unclear who damaged his door and the possibility it was an unrelated burglary attempt has not been ruled out. The Met said it was investigating. A spokesperson for the Church of Scientology denied any knowledge or involvement.
Other questions also remain unanswered, such as who sent the anonymous emails to relatives. Meanwhile, it has not been possible to verify the identities of all of his online abusers. But evidence seen by the Observer shows the Church of Scientology and its followers have played a key role in abusing Barnes-Ross online. While police initially dismissed the social media attacks as the work of “bots”, analysis suggests many have been initiated and amplified by official Scientology accounts. The comments often tag accounts such as @Standmonitor, a Scientology page that says it serves to “monitor and expose discrimination and bigotry” by “anti-Scientologists” and has posted about Barnes-Ross 83 times in the past three weeks.
Three experts in digital influence said many of the abusive posts appeared to be part of an orchestrated human effort, rather than a bot campaign. Prof Darren Linvill, a social media forensics expert at Clemson University in the US, said it seemed to him that there were “several core X accounts working to attack various individuals critical of the International Association of Scientologists”, and several X users who engaged with these core accounts “to a degree that seems coordinated, both in volume and consistency of topic”. Official Scientology websites, including Stand – Scientologists Taking Action Against Discrimination – have posted attacks on Barnes-Ross that have been re-shared on social media.
In a statement to the Observer, the Church of Scientology International reiterated the allegations against Barnes-Ross, saying he was a discredited source engaging in improper conduct. It accused him of an “anti-Scientology hate and harassment campaign”, and called him a “serial stalker with a history of severe mental instability”. The church said any allegations its UK arm had engaged in unlawful activity were false and defamatory, and alleged that it in fact had evidence of Barnes-Ross engaging in offensive and criminal behaviour.
It also provided a statement, which it said had been written by a female Scientologist who says Barnes-Ross harassed her. The statement, dated December 2024, accuses Barnes-Ross of engaging in behaviour in 2013, when he was 18, that made her “extremely uncomfortable”, including commenting on her appearance, standing too close and sending messages saying he had “very, very, very, extremely strong feelings” for her.
Content retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/23/uk-scientology-critics-targets-harassment-online-abuse.
