Technology and Science24 July, 20263 min read
India’s I4C Orders GitHub To Remove Jack Dorsey’s Bitchat Repositories Within Three Hours
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I4C under the Home Ministry ordered GitHub to remove three Bitchat repositories within three hours. The order cites a Bluetooth-based offline BitChat app to evade surveillance and misused during unrest.
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GitHub ordered to remove Bitchat
India’s cybercrime authority, the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the Ministry of Home Affairs, ordered GitHub to remove three Bitchat repositories within three hours, citing Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, and Rule 3(1)(d) of the Information Technology Rules, 2021. Jack Dorsey, described as the developer and former Twitter CEO, posted on X that “the Government of India does not like technologies like Bitchat and wants it taken down,” after sharing screenshots of an official notice dated July 23. The notice directed GitHub to disable access to the Bitchat open-source code, Android application and release files, and it warned that noncompliance could expose GitHub to loss of legal protection and possible criminal proceedings.
“The repositories remained accessible from India on Friday.”
I4C’s justification, as described in the notice, centered on Bitchat’s ability to carry messages without mobile service, internet access or centralized infrastructure, arguing that its architecture obstructs lawful interception, user attribution and criminal investigations. TechCrunch reported that the repositories remained accessible from India on Friday, and GitHub did not confirm whether it had received the document.
Rights groups call it unconstitutional
The Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) condemned the order as “unconstitutional and authoritarian,” arguing it exceeded the government’s legal authority by using Section 79(3)(b) instead of the formal website-blocking process with procedural safeguards. In its statement posted on X, IFF said the order “does not identify any unlawful content in the repositories and instead argued the app’s decentralized design was itself grounds for removal,” challenging the government’s rationale for targeting an entire software project. IFF also disputed the stated purpose of the takedown, saying that deleting a repository does not delete the application from any phone that already carries it and that the mesh keeps functioning without servers.
TechCrunch quoted Raman Chima, global program director at the Association for Progressive Communications, saying the notice sought to remove open source code from GitHub rather than just targeting a designated service provider. Amid the legal debate, TechCrunch reported that Access Now’s Namrata Maheshwari warned that blocking an offline messaging platform during internet restrictions risked turning shutdowns into “a communication blackout” that violated fundamental rights.
Protest context and what’s at stake
The order surfaced during student protests in central New Delhi around Jantar Mantar, where the Ministry of Home Affairs order reported by the Times of India suspended mobile internet within a 1.5-kilometer radius from 4 p.m. until midnight on July 23. Crypto News reported that authorities had restricted communications around an ongoing student protest in central New Delhi, and it said some participants began using Bluetooth-based messaging services after the temporary network restrictions took effect. Reclaim The Net said the order did not name a single message sent on BitChat and instead objected to what the app can do, quoting the agency’s language that BitChat “significantly impedes lawful interception, attribution, and investigation,” and could be used during “public disorder, riots, terrorism, organized crime, or internet shutdowns.”
TechCrunch added that Sensor Tower data showed India accounted for about 85% of the app’s global downloads between July 17 and July 23, with Bitchat downloaded more than 91,000 times in India over the past five days. Across the coverage, the dispute over the legal basis and scope of targeting open-source code on GitHub is framed as a direct challenge to how communications can continue during network restrictions and how such tools can be shut down.