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.
“The Government of India does not like technologies like Bitchat and wants it taken down,” said the app’s developer and former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey in an X post, sharing a copy of the notice dated July 23.
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. I4C said that it has identified multiple applications as communication platforms capable of establishing decentralised peer-to-peer messaging over Bluetooth mesh networks without relying on mobile networks, internet connectivity, or centralised servers.
“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.
BJP government's unconstitutional and authoritarian decision to block the open-source messaging application BitChat is Deplorable. This action marks yet another dangerous escalation in the government's assault on democratic rights, freedom of expression and the right of citizens to peacefully organise and communicate.
What is particularly alarming is that no official notification or public order was issued by the Government of India. The country came to know of this censorship only through a public post by Jack Dorsey, whose team develops BitChat. Such secretive censorship, carried out without transparency or public accountability, is wholly incompatible with the norms of a constitutional democracy.
The reported order issued by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the Ministry of Home Affairs reportedly directed GitHub to disable access to BitChat repositories within hours while threatening the platform with punitive consequences. The government's objection is not to any identified unlawful content, but to the very existence of a communication tool that allows people to remain connected even during internet shutdowns. This exposes the real objective behind the move: to deny citizens the ability to communicate whenever the government chooses to suspend internet services.
This action cannot be viewed in isolation. It comes amid the continuing repression of thousands of students and young people who have been peacefully protesting at Jantar Mantar, demanding accountability for examination irregularities and justice for affected students. Internet services have repeatedly been suspended in the area, metro stations have been closed, barricades erected and peaceful protesters subjected to police repression. The attempt to suppress communication itself is a continuation of these authoritarian measures aimed at crushing democratic dissent.
The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that restrictions on speech and internet access must satisfy the tests of legality, necessity and proportionality. Resorting to opaque executive orders to block open-source software, without transparency or due process, violates these constitutional principles and further undermines the rule of law.