Govt orders GitHub to remove access to Bitchat app in India

New Delhi: The government ordered online platform GitHub to remove access to Bitchat, the offline, Bluetooth-based messaging application developed by Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey, saying that it may be misused by anti-national elements, terrorist organisations, organised criminal groups and cybercriminals.

Dorsey on Friday shared the order, sent a day before by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the Union home affairs ministry, on social media platform X. The order directed GitHub to disable access to three Bitchat repositories within three hours.

Issued at a time when students protesting repeated entrance exam paper leaks have complained of communication blocks imposed on them, the order invoked Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act, along with Rule 3(1)(d) of the IT Rules, 2021. It said that the technical architecture of Bitchat significantly impedes lawful interception, attribution and investigation by law enforcement agencies.


Bitchat is a decentralised, peer-to-peer connection app which utilises Bluetooth Low Energy mesh networks and requires no internet or phone numbers. The application connects devices within roughly 30-100 metres, allowing phones to relay messages across multiple hops to extend network reach without cellular service or Wi-Fi.