diff --git a/js/app.js b/js/app.js
index e82acd1c..1761f85c 100644
--- a/js/app.js
+++ b/js/app.js
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ import { loadView } from "./viewManager.js";
 import { nostrClient } from "./nostr.js";
 import { torrentClient } from "./webtorrent.js";
 import { isDevMode, ADMIN_SUPER_NPUB } from "./config.js";
-import { accessControl } from "./accessControl.js";
+import { accessControl, normalizeNpub } from "./accessControl.js";
 import { safeDecodeMagnet } from "./magnetUtils.js";
 import { extractMagnetHints, normalizeAndAugmentMagnet } from "./magnet.js";
 import { deriveTorrentPlaybackConfig } from "./playbackUtils.js";
@@ -64,6 +64,9 @@ const UNSUPPORTED_BTITH_MESSAGE =
   "This magnet link is missing a compatible BitTorrent v1 info hash.";
 
 const FALLBACK_THUMBNAIL_SRC = "assets/jpg/video-thumbnail-fallback.jpg";
+const ADMIN_DM_IMAGE_URL =
+  "https://beta.bitvid.network/assets/jpg/video-thumbnail-fallback.jpg";
+const BITVID_WEBSITE_URL = "https://bitvid.network/";
 const TRACKING_SCRIPT_PATTERN = /(?:^|\/)tracking\.js(?:$|\?)/;
 const EMPTY_VIDEO_LIST_SIGNATURE = "__EMPTY__";
 const PROFILE_CACHE_STORAGE_KEY = "bitvid:profileCache:v1";
@@ -4247,6 +4250,38 @@ class bitvidApp {
       buttonToToggle.disabled = false;
       buttonToToggle.removeAttribute("aria-busy");
     }
+
+    if (isAdd) {
+      try {
+        const notifyResult = await this.sendAdminListNotification({
+          listType,
+          actorNpub,
+          targetNpub: target,
+        });
+        if (!notifyResult?.ok) {
+          const errorMessage = this.describeNotificationError(
+            notifyResult?.error
+          );
+          if (errorMessage) {
+            this.showError(errorMessage);
+          }
+          if (isDevMode && notifyResult?.error) {
+            console.warn(
+              "[admin] Failed to send list notification DM:",
+              notifyResult
+            );
+          }
+        }
+      } catch (error) {
+        console.error("Failed to send list notification DM:", error);
+        if (isDevMode) {
+          console.warn(
+            "List update succeeded, but DM notification threw an unexpected error.",
+            error
+          );
+        }
+      }
+    }
   }
 
   describeAdminError(code) {
@@ -4272,6 +4307,79 @@ class bitvidApp {
     }
   }
 
+  describeNotificationError(code) {
+    switch (code) {
+      case "nostr-extension-missing":
+        return "List updated, but the DM notification failed because no Nostr extension is connected.";
+      case "nostr-uninitialized":
+        return "List updated, but the DM notification system is still connecting to Nostr relays. Please try again in a moment.";
+      case "nip04-unavailable":
+        return "List updated, but your Nostr extension does not support NIP-04 encryption, so the DM notification was not sent.";
+      case "sign-event-unavailable":
+        return "List updated, but your Nostr extension could not sign the DM notification.";
+      case "missing-actor-pubkey":
+        return "List updated, but we could not determine your public key to send the DM notification.";
+      case "publish-failed":
+        return "List updated, but the DM notification could not be delivered to any relay.";
+      case "encryption-failed":
+      case "signature-failed":
+        return "List updated, but the DM notification failed while preparing the encrypted message.";
+      case "invalid-target":
+      case "empty-message":
+        return "";
+      default:
+        return "List updated, but the DM notification could not be sent.";
+    }
+  }
+
+  async sendAdminListNotification({ listType, actorNpub, targetNpub }) {
+    const normalizedTarget = normalizeNpub(targetNpub);
+    if (!normalizedTarget) {
+      return { ok: false, error: "invalid-target" };
+    }
+
+    if (!this.pubkey) {
+      return { ok: false, error: "missing-actor-pubkey" };
+    }
+
+    const actorHex = this.pubkey;
+    const fallbackActor = this.safeEncodeNpub(actorHex) || "a BitVid moderator";
+    const actorDisplay = normalizeNpub(actorNpub) || fallbackActor;
+    const isWhitelist = listType === "whitelist";
+
+    const introLine = isWhitelist
+      ? `Great news—your npub ${normalizedTarget} has been added to the BitVid whitelist by ${actorDisplay}.`
+      : `We wanted to let you know that your npub ${normalizedTarget} has been placed on the BitVid blacklist by ${actorDisplay}.`;
+
+    const statusLine = isWhitelist
+      ? `You now have full creator access across BitVid (${BITVID_WEBSITE_URL}).`
+      : `This hides your channel and prevents uploads across BitVid (${BITVID_WEBSITE_URL}) for now.`;
+
+    const followUpLine = isWhitelist
+      ? "Please take a moment to review our community guidelines (https://bitvid.network/#view=community-guidelines), and reply to this DM if you have any questions."
+      : "Please review our community guidelines (https://bitvid.network/#view=community-guidelines). If you believe this was a mistake, you can submit an appeal at https://bitvid.network/?modal=appeals to request reinstatement, or reply to this DM with any questions.";
+
+    const messageBody = [
+      "Hi there,",
+      "",
+      introLine,
+      "",
+      statusLine,
+      "",
+      followUpLine,
+      "",
+      "— The BitVid Team",
+    ].join("\n");
+
+    const message = `![BitVid status update](${ADMIN_DM_IMAGE_URL})\n\n${messageBody}`;
+
+    return nostrClient.sendDirectMessage(
+      normalizedTarget,
+      message,
+      actorHex
+    );
+  }
+
   async onAccessControlUpdated() {
     try {
       await this.refreshAdminPaneState();
diff --git a/js/nostr.js b/js/nostr.js
index d9b2e556..2de5080a 100644
--- a/js/nostr.js
+++ b/js/nostr.js
@@ -52,6 +52,94 @@ function fakeDecrypt(encrypted) {
   return encrypted.split("").reverse().join("");
 }
 
+function decodeNpubToHex(npub) {
+  if (typeof npub !== "string" || !npub.trim()) {
+    return "";
+  }
+
+  if (
+    !window?.NostrTools?.nip19 ||
+    typeof window.NostrTools.nip19.decode !== "function"
+  ) {
+    return "";
+  }
+
+  try {
+    const decoded = window.NostrTools.nip19.decode(npub.trim());
+    if (decoded?.type === "npub" && typeof decoded.data === "string") {
+      return decoded.data;
+    }
+  } catch (error) {
+    if (isDevMode) {
+      console.warn(`[nostr] Failed to decode npub: ${npub}`, error);
+    }
+  }
+  return "";
+}
+
+const DM_PUBLISH_TIMEOUT_MS = 10_000;
+
+function publishEventToRelay(pool, url, event) {
+  return new Promise((resolve) => {
+    let settled = false;
+    const finalize = (success, error = null) => {
+      if (settled) {
+        return;
+      }
+      settled = true;
+      resolve({ url, success, error });
+    };
+
+    const timeoutId = setTimeout(() => {
+      finalize(false, new Error("publish timeout"));
+    }, DM_PUBLISH_TIMEOUT_MS);
+
+    try {
+      const pub = pool.publish([url], event);
+
+      if (pub && typeof pub.on === "function") {
+        pub.on("ok", () => {
+          clearTimeout(timeoutId);
+          finalize(true);
+        });
+        pub.on("seen", () => {
+          clearTimeout(timeoutId);
+          finalize(true);
+        });
+        pub.on("failed", (reason) => {
+          clearTimeout(timeoutId);
+          const err =
+            reason instanceof Error
+              ? reason
+              : new Error(String(reason || "publish failed"));
+          finalize(false, err);
+        });
+        return;
+      }
+
+      if (pub && typeof pub.then === "function") {
+        pub
+          .then(() => {
+            clearTimeout(timeoutId);
+            finalize(true);
+          })
+          .catch((error) => {
+            clearTimeout(timeoutId);
+            finalize(false, error);
+          });
+        return;
+      }
+    } catch (error) {
+      clearTimeout(timeoutId);
+      finalize(false, error);
+      return;
+    }
+
+    clearTimeout(timeoutId);
+    finalize(true);
+  });
+}
+
 const EXTENSION_MIME_MAP = {
   mp4: "video/mp4",
   m4v: "video/x-m4v",
@@ -590,6 +678,108 @@ class NostrClient {
     if (isDevMode) console.log("User logged out.");
   }
 
+  async sendDirectMessage(targetNpub, message, actorPubkeyOverride = null) {
+    const trimmedTarget = typeof targetNpub === "string" ? targetNpub.trim() : "";
+    const trimmedMessage = typeof message === "string" ? message.trim() : "";
+
+    if (!trimmedTarget) {
+      return { ok: false, error: "invalid-target" };
+    }
+
+    if (!trimmedMessage) {
+      return { ok: false, error: "empty-message" };
+    }
+
+    if (!this.pool) {
+      return { ok: false, error: "nostr-uninitialized" };
+    }
+
+    const extension = window?.nostr;
+    if (!extension) {
+      return { ok: false, error: "nostr-extension-missing" };
+    }
+
+    const nip04 = extension.nip04;
+    if (!nip04 || typeof nip04.encrypt !== "function") {
+      return { ok: false, error: "nip04-unavailable" };
+    }
+
+    if (typeof extension.signEvent !== "function") {
+      return { ok: false, error: "sign-event-unavailable" };
+    }
+
+    let actorHex =
+      typeof actorPubkeyOverride === "string" && actorPubkeyOverride.trim()
+        ? actorPubkeyOverride.trim()
+        : "";
+
+    if (!actorHex && typeof this.pubkey === "string") {
+      actorHex = this.pubkey.trim();
+    }
+
+    if (!actorHex && typeof extension.getPublicKey === "function") {
+      try {
+        actorHex = await extension.getPublicKey();
+      } catch (error) {
+        if (isDevMode) {
+          console.warn(
+            "[nostr] Failed to fetch actor pubkey from extension:",
+            error
+          );
+        }
+      }
+    }
+
+    if (!actorHex) {
+      return { ok: false, error: "missing-actor-pubkey" };
+    }
+
+    const targetHex = decodeNpubToHex(trimmedTarget);
+    if (!targetHex) {
+      return { ok: false, error: "invalid-target" };
+    }
+
+    let ciphertext = "";
+    try {
+      ciphertext = await nip04.encrypt(targetHex, trimmedMessage);
+    } catch (error) {
+      return { ok: false, error: "encryption-failed", details: error };
+    }
+
+    const event = {
+      kind: 4,
+      created_at: Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000),
+      tags: [["p", targetHex]],
+      content: ciphertext,
+      pubkey: actorHex,
+    };
+
+    let signedEvent;
+    try {
+      signedEvent = await extension.signEvent(event);
+    } catch (error) {
+      return { ok: false, error: "signature-failed", details: error };
+    }
+
+    const relays =
+      Array.isArray(this.relays) && this.relays.length ? this.relays : RELAY_URLS;
+
+    const publishResults = await Promise.all(
+      relays.map((url) => publishEventToRelay(this.pool, url, signedEvent))
+    );
+
+    const success = publishResults.some((result) => result.success);
+    if (!success) {
+      return {
+        ok: false,
+        error: "publish-failed",
+        details: publishResults.filter((result) => !result.success),
+      };
+    }
+
+    return { ok: true };
+  }
+
   /**
    * Publish a new video using the v3 content schema.
    */