Jack Dorsey’s Bitchat disappears from app stores in India after government order

Bitchat, an open-source messaging app developed by Jack Dorsey that uses Bluetooth mesh networking to let nearby devices exchange encrypted messages without internet access, has been removed from Apple’s App Store in India after a government directive. Dorsey said the Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology ordered the takedown under Section 69A of India’s Information Technology Act; Apple’s notice indicated the app would remain available in other countries but be blocked from TestFlight beta access inside India. TechCrunch reported that Bitchat was also unavailable on Google Play in India at the time of checking, and that Bitchat’s website could not be reached through multiple internet service providers. The article noted it was not immediately clear whether Google or the ISPs had received formal directions from the federal government. Apple, Google and India’s IT ministry did not respond to requests for comment for the report. The recent takedown follows an earlier July order in which Indian authorities asked GitHub to remove repositories tied to Bitchat. In that GitHub order, the government said the app’s design made it difficult for law enforcement to intercept communications or trace users and highlighted the app’s potential to operate during internet shutdowns. The July action against GitHub relied on a different legal provision dealing with intermediary liability for third-party content, while the Apple notice cited Section 69A. Digital-rights groups have challenged the grounds for the restrictions. The Internet Freedom Foundation called the latest order unconstitutional, arguing that Section 69A authorizes blocking unlawful information but does not permit banning an entire messaging application because of its resilience to internet shutdowns; it also said the blocking order and the allegedly illegal content referenced were not publicly disclosed. Bitchat had seen a surge of interest in India during protests in July, with Sensor Tower data cited in the article showing India made up about 85% of the app’s global downloads between July 17 and July 23, up from roughly 1% in the prior 30 days.