Stories
Why India Banned Jack Dorsey’s Offline Messaging App Bitchat
- •India officially removed Jack Dorsey's decentralised offline messaging app, Bitchat, from app stores following a directive from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
- •Bitchat uses Bluetooth Low Energy and a mesh networking system to allow users to communicate without cellular networks or the internet, operating without traditional mobile numbers or registration.
- •The app surged in popularity during student protests in Delhi in July 2026 when authorities suspended mobile internet services, leading to over 330,000 daily active users in India.
- •Law enforcement raised concerns that Bitchat's decentralised architecture and lack of central logs impede lawful interception, making it difficult to trace communications used by criminal or unlawful groups.
- •While removing Bitchat from app stores prevents new downloads, existing users can still access the app because it lacks a central server and its open-source code can be mirrored or sideloaded.
Key Questions Answered
Bitchat is a peer-to-peer and decentralised messaging app created by Jack Dorsey that uses Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and a mesh network system to connect nearby devices directly. Instead of relying on conventional mobile data, Wi-Fi, or central servers, phones act as relay points to pass encrypted messages from one device to another across a local chain.
The Indian government directed the removal of Bitchat under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, citing that the app contained content illegal in India. Authorities raised security concerns because its decentralised architecture and lack of user registration or centralised logs impede lawful interception and investigation, making it vulnerable to misuse by criminal or unlawful groups.
Bitchat saw a massive surge in India during July 2026 when student protests occurred at Delhi's Jantar Mantar over the NEET paper leak case. As authorities repeatedly suspended mobile internet services around the protest areas to restrict communication, protesters turned to Bitchat, causing India to account for roughly 85 percent of the app's global downloads within a week.
