[7] The Cult Information Centre was founded in 1987 by Ian Haworth,[8][9][10] who had previously been involved with the Council on Mind Abuse, and gained charitable status in the United Kingdom in 1992.

[11] John Campbell of the evangelical Christian group, the Jesus Army, called the Cult Information Centre "unethical" and its views "absolute nonsense".

His opinion was that individuals had joined cults out of "their own hunger to believe" and is dismissive of "absurd scare stories".

[13] A complaint was made in 2010 to the Charity Commission challenging the organisation's charitable status.

[14] The complaint was not upheld and the organisation remains listed and regulated by the Charity Commission.