Tenzin Nyidon
DHARAMSHALA, Feb. 12: A fabricated letter falsely claiming that His Holiness the Dalai Lama met the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has been widely circulated on social media, prompting strong condemnation from the exile Tibetan government, known officially as the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA).
In a statement issued on Sunday, the Office of the Dalai Lama clarified that the Tibetan spiritual leader has “never met Jeffrey Epstein or authorised any meeting or interaction with him by anyone on His Holiness’s behalf.”
An account operating under the name Kallistos Rhys actively disseminated the misinformation through a Facebook group page titled Free TIBET movement. The post containing the fabricated letter was shared in the group, raising concerns about coordinated attempts to malign the Tibetan spiritual leader.
The CTA President Penpa Tsering strongly condemned the fabrication and circulation of forged official documents. In a statement posted on X, he urged the public to refrain from spreading disinformation designed to damage the reputation of His Holiness. “I urge everyone to refrain from the illegal fabrication and circulation of forged official documents, which are clearly intended to spread disinformation and malign His Holiness the Dalai Lama,” he wrote. “It has also come to our attention that certain accounts, deliberately created under the guise of support for Tibet, are actively disseminating disinformation. Such deceptive practices must be identified and met with zero tolerance.”
Addressing the issue during the closing ceremony of the Geneva Convention on Wednesday, the Tibetan political leader described the allegations as part of a smear campaign originating from China. “We found that the first sources of those smear campaigns were coming from China, claiming that His Holiness has met with Epstein, and the reason for the meeting with Epstein was to ask for money and all those kinds of things, very ridiculous things,” he said. “His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s office had come out with a statement three days ago that His Holiness has never met Epstein, there was no communication whatsoever and we have also checked our facts and found that His Holiness has never met Epstein at all. This is the truth. China is using that to smear His Holiness’ image and we have not received any funding whatsoever from Epstein, neither His Holiness nor any of the organizations.”
He further added, “If Epstein had been part of the hundreds of thousands of followers listening to His Holiness, we don’t know, but otherwise there is no relation with Epstein, and it’s a smear campaign originating from China.”
The CTA also issued a strong condemnation of social media accounts that used the official letterhead of the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to lend credibility to fabricated claims. According to the CTA, a preliminary inquiry conducted by its Department of Security found that the account in question had joined the Facebook group on January 17, 2026, and shared the fake content regarding the Tibetan elections — the only time the page had been active. The material was traced to an article published on the Chinese-language website westca.com, based in Vancouver, Canada.
The website has previously carried content targeting the exiled Tibetan community that appears one-sided, biased, and intentionally divisive. Such material, the CTA noted, appears to be designed to manipulate public opinion, deepen societal divisions, and erode public trust in the CTA.
When contacted by the CTA, Pema Masih, the administrator of the Facebook group page, expressed regret over the misleading information shared through her platform. The user responsible for the post was subsequently removed from the group.
While appreciating Pema Masih’s prompt response, the CTA issued an advisory urging the public, as well as social media administrators, to remain vigilant regarding the identities and intentions of accounts joining group pages and to exercise caution before sharing information from unidentified or unverified sources.
