The Indian government has taken a bold move against Jack Dorsey's Bitchat, a popular offline messaging app that has seen a surge in popularity in India amid recent protests. According to a notice shared by Dorsey, the Ministry of Home Affairs has directed GitHub to restrict access to three Bitchat repositories within three hours, citing concerns over the app's anonymous and decentralized architecture.
The notice argues that Bitchat's ability to function during internet shutdowns and without central servers could facilitate unlawful activity, making it difficult for authorities to carry out lawful interception. However, experts have questioned the effectiveness of this approach, pointing out that deleting a repository does not delete the application from any phone that carries it, and the mesh keeps functioning without servers.
Mishi Choudhary, founder of SFLC.in, an Indian digital rights legal advocacy group, has stated that the document resembles the format of recent government takedown notices, but the legal provisions it cites do not clearly authorize authorities to seek the removal of an entire software project because of how it works rather than any specific illegal content.
The rise of Bitchat in India has been rapid, with market intelligence provider Sensor Tower sharing data that showed India accounted for about 85% of the app's global downloads between July 17 and July 23. The app's daily active users in India reached over 330,000 on Thursday, the highest level recorded for the app in the country.