Kat Torres, spiritual influencer, jailed for human trafficking

The perils of social media as a mind-altering, suggestibility-amplifying drug

At the end of June, Brazilian model and influencer Kat Torres was sentenced to eight years in prison on charges of human trafficking and slavery of one of her followers. The BBC is reporting that charges are being prepared against her for her mistreatment of another follower, and the BBC also spoke to other followers who said they felt harmed by Torres.

I wrote about Torres’ case in March 2023 – the first time her story had been covered in the English-language press.

The story interested me for three reasons. Initially, it was because of the role ayahuasca played in her story. She became convinced of her spiritual powers after becoming involved with ayahuasca circles in the Hollywood Hills and channeling a (supposed) entity she called The Voice.  According to her former flatmate in the new BBC documentary, Torres ‘flipped’ when she got into ayahuasca. It was also initially reported, last year, that she gave ayahuasca to the women who moved in with her and became her slaves – although there is no mention of that in the new BBC documentary.

The second reason the story interested me was it was an example of how online influencers can indoctrinate and control followers through social media, weaponizing online ‘parasociality’ (the feeling you intimately know and are friends with the people you follow online) without even necessarily meeting them in person. Her videos have the same hypnotic induction techniques as one sees in some other spiritual influencers.

Every online content creator knows about the ‘marketing funnel’, whereby you gradually direct followers to higher levels of engagement with your content. In Torres’ case, this marketing funnel ended up with her having complete control over her closest followers’ lives, even to the point of pimping them out as strippers and prostitutes to support her lifestyle.

The third reason Torres’ case interests me is she has been charged with human trafficking and slavery – this is the same charge that was successfully brought against Keith Raniere, the founder of self-improvement cult NXIVM, and its also the charge brought against online influencer Andrew Tate and his brother in an upcoming trial in Romania.

The whole question of whether cults practice ‘brainwashing’, whether this should be considered a crime, or even whether such a thing as a ‘cult’ exists, has been quite controversial, especially in US courts. However, with these cases it seems like a precedent has been established that in some instances – particularly when people are being forced to work under degrading conditions for little or no money – prosecutors can successfully bring charges of human trafficking against cult leaders or sociopathic manipulators.

The Kat Torres story is also fascinating because it all played out online, on Instagram and Facebook. For my research, I trawled through years of her media and social media, following her rise to globally-famous model with a million Instagram followers, her descent into culty craziness, how she sold the dream of a perfect life to her followers, then guided a handful of them down the marketing funnel into slavery. Kevin Kelly once said that all online creators need to make a living is 1000 true fans. Or, in Torres’ case, three slaves.

Kat Torres: under the influence

After the paywall, a link to the BBC documentary, plus the video of our recent Psychedelic Safety Seminar on the risks and benefits of post-psychedelic support groups. And why Donald Trump’s supporters think ‘the hand of God’ is on him, following the failed assassination attempt in Pensylvania.