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India’s cybercrime agency ordered GitHub to remove three repositories containing Bitchat’s source code within three hours, according to a notice published by app co-founder Jack Dorsey. The app routes encrypted peer-to-peer messages across a Bluetooth mesh during internet restrictions or outages. The notice said that capability created a risk of misuse by groups seeking to evade lawful detection.
What Changed
- India's Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre gave GitHub three hours to remove three repositories holding Bitchat's source code, in a notice dated July 23 that co-founder Jack Dorsey published on X.
- The order invoked Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act, 2000 and Rule 3(1)(d) of the IT Rules, 2021, alleging the app enables anonymous communication without user registration or centralised logging.
- The Home Ministry had already imposed its fifth internet restriction around Jantar Mantar since July 17, covering a 1.5-kilometer radius and suspending mobile internet service for eight hours.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted self-recorded Instagram Reels on July 23 and July 24, while the satirical Cockroach Janta Party account stood at about 24 million followers by July 21, more than twice the BJP's total.
AI-generated summary, reviewed by an editor. More on our AI guidelines.
In May, authorities canceled the national medical entrance examination, affecting more than 2.2 million candidates, after investigators found evidence of leaked question papers, Bloomberg reported. Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted a self-recorded Reel late on July 23, calling the exam leak scandal “extremely painful” for students and parents. He returned on July 24 to thank young people for their comments and suggestions. Both messages left Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s future unaddressed. Students were demanding his resignation. The report cited DataReportal’s estimate that India has about 480 million Instagram users, the service’s largest national audience.
Dated July 23, the notice from the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre, the Home Ministry’s cybercrime arm, invoked Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act, 2000, and Rule 3(1)(d) of the IT Rules, 2021. The agency alleged that Bitchat “enables anonymous communication without mandatory user registration, phone number verification, or centralised logging of communications.” The notice said the app’s “design, which enables communication even during network restrictions, creates a substantial risk of misuse by anti-national elements, terrorist organisations, organised criminal groups, and cybercriminals seeking to evade lawful detection and continue communication despite legally imposed restrictions.”
Dorsey published the copy on X on July 24, one day after the date displayed on the document. “The government of India does not like technologies like bitchat and wants it taken down,” he wrote.
The Internet Freedom Foundation called the order “unconstitutional and authoritarian.” “We stand with the developers and the young protesters whose speech this order seeks to silence,” the civil-rights group said.
The Home Ministry had imposed its fifth internet restriction around Jantar Mantar since July 17, The Week reported. The July 23 action covered a 1.5-kilometer radius, cited public safety and was approved by the Union Home Secretary under the Telecommunication Act, 2023, and the Telecommunications (Temporary Suspension of Services) Rules, 2024.
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The same order, published on the ministry’s website, suspended mobile internet service for eight hours. The document said the temporary suspension was needed “in the interest of public order and for preventing incitement to the commission of any offence.”
Before the Indian order, Bitchat had been used during a government network blackout in Nepal, Forbes reported. The app uses Bluetooth mesh and the Nostr protocol, requiring no user identification, phone numbers, central servers or internet connection. Calle, the anonymous developer of its Android edition, said the app recorded more than 48,000 downloads from Nepal on September 8, 2025, above 38% of all installs to that point.
The Cockroach Janta Party account crossed three million followers within 78 hours and reached nine million by May 20, Mint reported. Its May 21 snapshot put the BJP at about 8.7 million and Congress at 13.2 million, while the CJP had published 54 posts against more than 18,000 from the BJP.
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Bloomberg put the CJP account at about 24 million followers by July 21, more than twice the BJP’s total. Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author of Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times, told Bloomberg: “For the first time in over a decade, it is the protesters who are setting the agenda, not Modi.” He said Modi’s response “doesn’t appear to be well thought out.”
The Economic Times reported that social-media users circulated screenshots claiming many CJP followers came from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, with the posts alleging bot activity. Founder Abhijeet Dipke countered that 94% of the account’s followers were in India. Meta and Instagram have published no official data on its follower geography.
Al Jazeera quoted CJP spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka calling Modi’s promise of fast-track courts “merely a distraction.” The movement’s stated demands still include Pradhan’s immediate resignation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Bitchat?
An encrypted peer-to-peer messaging app co-founded by Jack Dorsey. It routes messages across a Bluetooth mesh using the Nostr protocol and requires no user identification, phone numbers, central servers or internet connection, according to Forbes.
Why did India order the repositories removed?
The I4C notice said the app's design, which enables communication even during network restrictions, creates a substantial risk of misuse by anti-national elements, terrorist organisations, organised criminal groups and cybercriminals seeking to evade lawful detection.
What legal basis did the order cite?
Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act, 2000 and Rule 3(1)(d) of the IT Rules, 2021. The notice gave GitHub, a Microsoft subsidiary, three hours from issuance to remove or disable access to the three repositories.
How did digital rights groups respond?
The Internet Freedom Foundation called the order unconstitutional and authoritarian, and said it stands with the developers and the young protesters whose speech the order seeks to silence.
How large is the Cockroach Janta Party's Instagram following?
Bloomberg put the account at about 24 million followers by July 21, more than twice the BJP's total. Mint reported it crossed three million followers within 78 hours of launch and reached nine million by May 20.
AI-generated summary, reviewed by an editor. More on our AI guidelines.
Marcus Schuler
Editor-in-Chief and founder of Implicator.ai. Former ARD correspondent and senior broadcast journalist with 10+ years covering tech. Writes daily briefings on policy and market developments. Based in San Francisco. E-mail: editor@implicator.ai
