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Bitchat Removed from Apple's India App Store Following Government Demand: Jack Dorsey
- •Apple has removed the Bitchat offline messaging application from its India App Store at the demand of the country’s IT ministry, as confirmed by Jack Dorsey.
- •The removal was based on a notice from Apple stating the app includes content deemed illegal in India, citing Section 69(A) of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
- •Bitchat, developed by Jack Dorsey, had previously faced scrutiny in July when the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre ordered GitHub to remove it.
- •The Indian government has expressed concerns that Bitchat’s ability to facilitate communication during network restrictions could be misused by anti-national elements and for unlawful activities.
- •The app remains available in other territories, but its TestFlight version is also unavailable for testing in India.
Key Questions Answered
Apple removed Bitchat from its India App Store following a demand from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) because the app includes content deemed illegal in India under Section 69(A) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, violating local legal requirements and App Review Guidelines.
Bitchat is an offline messaging application built by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey that uses Bluetooth-based mesh networking technology to enable direct communication between nearby devices without relying on mobile networks, internet connectivity, or centralized servers.
Government agencies like the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) raised concerns that Bitchat's decentralised architecture enables users to evade lawful surveillance and could be exploited by anti-national elements, terrorist organisations, and criminal groups to coordinate unlawful assemblies and violent protests during internet shutdowns
