India Orders Jack Dorsey’s Bitchat App To Be Blocked During Student Protests

India-West News Desk

NEW DELHI – Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey said the Indian government has asked software development platform GitHub to block access to repositories linked to Bitchat, his decentralized messaging app, as student protests continue across Delhi and other cities.

“The government of India does not like technologies like Bitchat and wants it taken down,” Dorsey wrote on social media, posting screenshots of a notice issued by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre under the Ministry of Home Affairs.

According to the notice, GitHub was instructed to disable access within three hours to three repositories, including Bitchat’s main repository and its Android version.

The government’s move comes as the ongoing Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) protests have prompted authorities to temporarily suspend mobile internet services in parts of Delhi. Reports suggested some protesters turned to Bluetooth based messaging apps to stay connected after the restrictions were imposed.

Bitchat differs from conventional messaging platforms because it does not rely on mobile networks, Wi Fi or centralized servers. Instead, it uses Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) mesh networking, allowing nearby smartphones to relay encrypted messages from one device to another. As more users join the network, messages can travel farther by hopping across connected devices without passing through traditional telecom infrastructure.

Unlike WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram, Bitchat does not require users to register with a phone number or connect to the internet. While that makes it useful in areas with poor connectivity or during network outages, it also creates fewer records for investigators and makes it more difficult for law enforcement agencies to intercept communications, identify users or collect digital evidence during investigations.

GitHub had not publicly responded to the government’s request at the time of writing. (With IANS inputs)