diff --git a/bitchat/ViewModels/Extensions/ChatViewModel+Nostr.swift b/bitchat/ViewModels/Extensions/ChatViewModel+Nostr.swift
index 4159c089..9dbb8d38 100644
--- a/bitchat/ViewModels/Extensions/ChatViewModel+Nostr.swift
+++ b/bitchat/ViewModels/Extensions/ChatViewModel+Nostr.swift
@@ -257,6 +257,11 @@ extension ChatViewModel {
         let tagSummary = event.tags.map { "[" + $0.joined(separator: ",") + "]" }.joined(separator: ",")
         SecureLogger.debug("GeoTeleport: recv pub=\(event.pubkey.prefix(8))… tags=\(tagSummary)", category: .session)
         
+        // If this pubkey is blocked, skip mapping, participants, and timeline
+        if identityManager.isNostrBlocked(pubkeyHexLowercased: event.pubkey) {
+            return
+        }
+        
         // Track teleport tag for participants – only our format ["t", "teleport"]
         let hasTeleportTag: Bool = event.tags.contains { tag in
             tag.count >= 2 && tag[0].lowercased() == "t" && tag[1].lowercased() == "teleport"
@@ -297,11 +302,6 @@ extension ChatViewModel {
             geoNicknames[event.pubkey.lowercased()] = nick
         }
         
-        // If this pubkey is blocked, skip mapping, participants, and timeline
-        if identityManager.isNostrBlocked(pubkeyHexLowercased: event.pubkey) {
-            return
-        }
-        
         // Store mapping for geohash DM initiation
         nostrKeyMapping[PeerID(nostr_: event.pubkey)] = event.pubkey
         nostrKeyMapping[PeerID(nostr: event.pubkey)] = event.pubkey