News in Short

• Jack Dorsey’s Bitchat has disappeared from Apple and Google’s app stores in India.
• Apple says the removal followed a government order under Section 69A of the IT Act.
• Bitchat’s website was also inaccessible across several Indian internet service providers.
• The app uses Bluetooth mesh networking to send encrypted messages without the internet.
• India had previously sought restrictions on Bitchat’s open-source repositories.

Jack Dorsey’s Bitchat, an offline messaging app designed to work without internet access, has disappeared from Apple and Google’s app stores in India.

The development comes as a fresh wave of youth-led protests is taking place over changes to India’s voter rolls. Police detained several people in New Delhi on October 3 as protesters demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, according to Reuters.

The timing is notable because Bitchat is specifically designed to keep messages moving when conventional internet connectivity is unavailable.

Apple says India ordered Bitchat removal

Dorsey said on Saturday that the Indian government had ordered Apple to remove Bitchat from its Indian App Store.

An Apple notice shared by Dorsey says the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology issued the demand under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act. Apple’s notice also indicates that Bitchat remains available outside India. Its TestFlight beta distribution is also being blocked in the country.

Google Play no longer listed Bitchat in India when TechCrunch checked. The app’s website was also inaccessible across several internet service providers. Apple, Google and India’s IT ministry had not responded to TechCrunch’s requests for comment at the time of publication.

Why Bitchat is different from regular messaging apps

Bitchat uses Bluetooth mesh networking to allow nearby devices to exchange encrypted messages. It does not need cellular networks, internet access or central servers to operate.

That architecture means nearby users can communicate even when conventional internet connectivity is unavailable. The technology has previously attracted attention in India because of its ability to continue working during internet shutdowns.

In July, Indian authorities had already sought to restrict GitHub repositories associated with Bitchat. The government argued at the time that the app’s architecture could make lawful interception and user traceability more difficult.

India had previously targeted Bitchat repositories

The July action involved a different legal provision from the latest Apple notice.

The earlier order sought restrictions on Bitchat repositories hosted on GitHub. According to the earlier TechCrunch report, the order argued that Bitchat could allow communication during network restrictions and make lawful interception more difficult.

That move prompted questions from digital rights and legal groups about whether software could be restricted because of its technical design rather than specific unlawful content.

The Internet Freedom Foundation also questioned the effectiveness and legal basis of the earlier action.

The latest Apple notice instead cites Section 69A, India’s legal mechanism for government-directed blocking of online information.

Latest protests bring internet restrictions into focus

The Bitchat removal comes during another period of protests in India.

On October 2, hundreds of supporters of the youth-led Cockroach Janta Party demonstrated in Mumbai as part of a national campaign over alleged manipulation of voter rolls. Opposition groups have also announced protests demanding accountability from the Election Commission.

On October 3, Reuters reported that police detained several people during demonstrations in New Delhi. Protesters have alleged that voter-roll changes unfairly removed eligible voters. The Election Commission says the verification exercise is intended to remove duplicate, deceased or otherwise ineligible voters.

Internet services around Delhi’s Jantar Mantar were also suspended for 12 hours on Friday during protests, according to the report supplied for this story.

Bitchat’s offline design raises a wider technology question

The latest restrictions put renewed attention on messaging platforms designed to work without conventional internet infrastructure.

Bitchat’s Bluetooth-based system means messages can move between nearby devices without depending on a central server. That can make the technology useful in situations where connectivity is unavailable.

At the same time, the same architecture creates challenges for authorities seeking conventional methods of monitoring or intercepting communications.

That tension was already visible in India’s July action against Bitchat’s open-source repositories.

For now, Bitchat is unavailable through India’s major app stores, while the exact scope of the latest government directions to Google and internet providers remains unclear.

The development leaves Bitchat at the intersection of two rapidly evolving issues: how governments regulate decentralized communication tools and how citizens communicate when internet access is restricted.