Indian government attempts to block Bitchat app created by Jack Dorsey

The Indian government is taking measures to restrict the Bitchat messenger, developed by Twitter (now X) founder Jack Dorsey. The app, which operates offline based on Bluetooth technology, has gained massive popularity amid widespread protests in the country. New Delhi is concerned that the messenger's decentralized architecture could facilitate illegal activities. This is reported by Techcrunch.com reports.

Jack Dorsey posted a notification from the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs on his X social media page. It demands that GitHub remove three repositories related to the Bitchat project within three hours. The government believes that the app's anonymity and its ability to function even when the internet is shut down limit the surveillance capabilities of law enforcement agencies.

Protests and digital resistance

Interest in the Bitchat app surged due to large-scale student protests in India. Thousands of young people took to the streets demanding the resignation of the Minister of Education following a scandal involving leaked exam questions. At a time when the government restricted the internet to curb the protests, offline messengers like Bitchat and Briar became the primary means of communication.

According to data from the analytical company Sensor Tower, 85% of Bitchat's global downloads between July 17 and July 23 of this year came from India. Within a few days, the app was downloaded over 91,000 times, and the number of daily active users exceeded 330,000. This is a record result in the app's history.

Legal debates and open-source software

According to TechCrunch, this move by the Indian government has sparked serious debate among legal experts. Mishi Choudhary, founder of the digital rights organization SFLC.in, stated that the government is trying to ban the app not because of illegal content, but because of its operating principle—its decentralized and untraceable nature. This is seen as a new type of pressure against the freedom of open-source software.

The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) stated in its notification that Bitchat serves to "bypass network restrictions" and "hinder legal surveillance and identification processes." However, organizations like the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) are skeptical about the effectiveness of such bans, as completely removing open-source software is technically complex.

It is not yet known how GitHub has responded to this request or whether the app's code will be completely deleted. This situation is being assessed as the latest stage of conflict between tech giants and state control.