A fresh wave of online posts on July 3 revived an earlier and widely disputed claim attempting to link His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama to Jeffrey Epstein, using the phrase “mentioned 169 times” in the Epstein files to imply a connection that Tibetan officials say is unsupported by the documents.
The renewed campaign appeared to build on a claim first pushed earlier this year by Chinese state media. CGTN reported on February 5 that the word “Dalai” appeared at least 169 times in Epstein-related files released through the U.S. Department of Justice website. But even CGTN’s own report described the results as including personal emails, third-party references and an index entry from the book Massage for Dummies, rather than evidence of a meeting, relationship, correspondence, donation or wrongdoing involving the Dalai Lama.
On July 3, the claim resurfaced in a more aggressive social media cycle, with users and pro-Beijing commentators presenting the raw search count as if it were proof of an Epstein connection. Posts framed the allegation as a scandal ignored by “anti-China” voices and attempted to use the Epstein files to attack the Dalai Lama’s moral authority and the wider Tibetan movement. The July 3 wave appeared designed less to examine the documents than to revive an old insinuation at a politically sensitive moment for Tibet advocacy.
The Central Tibetan Administration had already rejected the allegation in February, saying that any claim of a meeting, relationship or correspondence between the Dalai Lama and Epstein was “entirely unfounded” and amounted to misinformation and disinformation. The CTA said the Office of His Holiness had made clear that the Dalai Lama “has never met Jeffrey Epstein or authorised any meeting or interaction with him by anyone on His Holiness’s behalf.”
According to the CTA, its review of the Justice Department-released documents found no evidence of direct participation, confirmation or acknowledgement by the Dalai Lama or anyone authorized to act on his behalf. The administration said some references appeared in third-party emails or speculative attempts by Epstein or others to arrange access, but that such references did not establish that any meeting occurred. It also said there was no evidence of any donation solicited from or received from Epstein.
The CTA further said a technical review by the Tibetan Computer Resources Centre found that raw search counts were inflated by duplication, misspellings and repeated entries. In other words, a database search result was being treated online as evidence of association, even though the actual underlying material consisted of duplicate or third-party references that did not demonstrate contact with the Dalai Lama.
That distinction became central again on July 3, as the “169 times” phrase was recirculated in posts that stripped away the CTA’s earlier clarification and the context of the files themselves. Critics of the smear campaign said the tactic followed a familiar pattern: take a numerical search result, detach it from its source context, repeat it across state-aligned media and social media accounts, and use the repetition to manufacture the appearance of scandal.
The timing of the renewed online campaign also matters. July 3 came during a period of heightened attention to Tibet, including global concern over China’s new ethnic unity legislation, renewed scrutiny of Beijing’s efforts to control Tibet-related narratives, and the death of Tibetan man Lobga Rangzen after self-immolation outside the United Nations headquarters in New York. Against that backdrop, Tibetan supporters viewed the Epstein-files allegations as part of a broader effort to distract from human rights concerns and discredit Tibetan religious and political symbols.
As of July 3, no official U.S. Department of Justice statement, credible legal finding or major independent investigative report had confirmed that the Dalai Lama met Epstein or had any improper connection with him. The available public record instead points to third-party mentions and attempted access, while the Dalai Lama’s office and the Central Tibetan Administration have categorically denied any meeting, authorisation, correspondence, donation or relationship involving Epstein.
The July 3 resurgence shows how old allegations can be repackaged as breaking news through selective framing and rapid amplification. For Tibetan communities and supporters, the episode is not simply an online rumour, but a coordinated attempt to weaponise the Epstein files to defame the Dalai Lama and undermine Tibet’s global human rights advocacy. They have urged journalists, commentators and social media users not to confuse search-result counts with evidence, and not to spread claims that the documents themselves do not substantiate.
