Full Breakdown
India Orders GitHub to Remove Jack Dorsey’s Decentralised Messaging App Bitchat
7/24/2026, 8:31:03 PM
Core Event
On July 23, the Ministry of Home Affairs’ Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) issued a notice to Microsoft-owned GitHub directing the platform to remove or disable access to three repositories containing the Bluetooth-mesh messaging app Bitchat within three hours. The order cites Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act and Rule 3(1)(d) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021, and later references Sections 43, 84B, 84C of the IT Act as well as Section 61 read with 196 and 197.
Background & Context
The directive was issued amid the 34-day Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi. On July 23, authorities imposed a temporary mobile-internet suspension within a 1.5-km radius of the protest site. Protesters adopted Bitchat because it enables device-to-device communication over Bluetooth Low Energy without requiring mobile data, Wi-Fi, phone numbers, or central servers.
Legal Basis and Official Rationale
It further claims that intelligence inputs indicate the platform could be exploited to coordinate unlawful assemblies, violent protests, misinformation, radicalisation, criminal conspiracies and other activities prejudicial to India’s sovereignty, integrity, defence, security, public order and cognizable offences.
Criticism & Opposition
The Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) described the order as “unconstitutional and authoritarian.” IFF contended that Section 79 does not grant a general blocking power, that the government failed to identify specific unlawful content in the repositories, and that removing source code from GitHub would not disable apps already installed on users’ devices.
Technical Limitations of the Takedown
Bitchat is an open-source, peer-to-peer system with no central server, user database or corporate messaging backend. GitHub hosts the code but is not the network itself; once the code is cloned, forked or downloaded, the application can continue to operate on devices. Android users can sideload the app, and developers can rebuild it from publicly available documentation. Consequently, a takedown can slow further distribution but cannot eradicate the protocol or existing installations.
International Precedents
Apple removed Bitchat from China’s App Store after a request from the Cyberspace Administration of China, a removal Dorsey disclosed on X on April 5. The same action also affected TestFlight access in China, as referenced in a February 28 communication from Apple cited by Gigazine.
Conflicting Reports & Gaps
ThePrint reported that it could not independently verify the authenticity of the July 23 notice and noted that I4C did not respond to a query about the order. No public statement from GitHub confirming compliance has been released.
Why It Matters
The episode underscores the growing tension between decentralised communication technologies that can function during internet shutdowns and state efforts to maintain surveillance and public-order control. It also raises broader questions about the efficacy of code-level takedowns when the underlying protocol remains freely distributable and technically resilient.
