Delhi protests: GoI asks GitHub to block Bitchat, messaging app that works without internet

New Delhi: The Government of India has directed GitHub to disable access to repositories hosting Bitchat – an offline messaging application developed by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey.

The order, whose copy was shared by Dorsey, comes at a time when the government has repeatedly ordered telecom companies to suspend mobile data services in parts of central Delhi during the students’ agitation at Jantar Mantar.

“The government of India does not like technologies like Bitchat and wants it taken down,” said Dorsey, co-founder of the messaging platform.

Dorsey also shared a copy of the blocking order the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), which comes under the Ministry of Home Affairs, had issued to GitHub on July 23.
The Home Ministry’s cybercrime arm, the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre, has ordered Microsoft subsidiary GitHub to remove Bluetooth-based messaging application Bitchat, according to a notice.

In its notice, I4C said that the app enables communication even during network restrictions and creates a substantial risk of misuse by anti-national elements, terrorist organisations, organised criminal groups and cyber criminals seeking to evade lawful detection and continue communication despite legally imposed restrictions.

While giving reference to Bitchat, I4C said that the content hosted or published by the GitHub intermediary platform is prohibited by law or being used to commit an unlawful act.

“The application enables anonymous communication without mandatory user registration, phone number verification, or centralised logging of communications. The technical architecture of the application significantly impedes lawful interception, attribution and investigation by law enforcement agencies,” the notice said.

The notice comes after several users participating in a protest organised by the Cockroach Janata Party at Jantar Mantar were observed using Bluetooth-based messaging apps after the government imposed temporary restrictions on internet services around the protest site.

According to I4C, since communications occur directly between nearby devices through a decentralised mesh network, the platform can be misused to evade lawful surveillance, facilitate anonymous coordination, and circumvent lawful restrictions imposed by competent authorities during situations involving public disorder, riots, terrorism, organised crime, or internet shutdowns.

“Intelligence inputs indicate that such decentralised communication platforms are capable of being exploited for coordinating unlawful assemblies, violent protests, dissemination of misinformation, radicalisation, criminal conspiracies, and other activities prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of the State, public order, and facilitating the commission of cognizable offences,” the notice said.