Is New TikTok banning the word “Epstein” in DMs? Not really.

Despite claims floating around social media, the truth is a bit more complicated, not least by the fact that TikTok in the US is still largely down, about a day and a half after its data center power outage problems started. While tweets from random users, the governor of California, and PopBase claimed TikTok US DMs now censor “Epstein,” testing it from our end showed that its messaging feature bans many innocuous single-word messages, like “test.” Using the convicted sex offender’s name in a sentence, however, goes through unbanned. [Image: TikTok DM screenshot showing the words “Epstein” and “test” trip the service’s ban by themselves, but not in a sentence. https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Screenshot_20260126-202820.png?quality=90&strip=all]