India orders GitHub takedown of Jack Dorsey's Bitchat app
In brief
- India's cybercrime watchdog ordered GitHub to remove Bitchat under IT Act Section 79(3)(b) with a three-hour deadline.
- Bitchat relays encrypted messages and bitcoin transactions over Bluetooth mesh networks without internet, servers, or accounts.
- Delhi student protesters adopted Bitchat to communicate during government-ordered internet shutdowns.
The app and its architecture
Bitchat is a decentralized messaging application that Dorsey released as open-source software in July 2025. The system works by relaying encrypted messages between phones over Bluetooth mesh networks, creating a peer-to-peer communication layer that doesn't depend on centralized infrastructure. The app is built to relay bitcoin transactions offline, passing them phone to phone through the mesh until a device with connectivity broadcasts them to the network.
The government's order cited that the app enables anonymous communication without registration, phone numbers, or centralized logging. Officials alleged that its architecture significantly impedes lawful interception and investigation by law enforcement—a core concern for regulators seeking to monitor network traffic.
Protest backdrop and deployment
The takedown coincides with widespread adoption of mesh-networking tools by demonstrators in India. Anti-government protesters in Delhi adopted mesh-networking tools including Bitchat to communicate through repeated internet shutdowns. Student protesters under the "Cockroach Janta Party" banner rallied against a national exam scandal starting July 20, triggering some of India's largest demonstrations in years.
The government ordered repeated internet suspensions around protest sites in New Delhi. Researchers documented demonstrators turning to Bluetooth mesh apps, including Bitchat, to coordinate once internet connection dropped. This shift to offline communication tools presented a direct challenge to the state's ability to monitor and suppress protest organizing.
Current status
CoinDesk could access and download Bitchat on both Google and Apple stores as of Friday afternoon, suggesting the GitHub takedown order did not immediately affect app store availability. GitHub has removed repositories under Indian legal orders before, though the outcome of this particular order remains unclear. The tension between decentralized communication tools and state surveillance authority continues to sharpen as protesters adopt technologies designed to operate outside government oversight.
