Apple has taken the unprecedented step of eliminating Bitchat, a Bluetooth mesh messaging application developed by Jack Dorsey, from its App Store in India.
This action follows a formal request from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
On October 3, Dorsey shared a screenshot of the notification regarding the removal on X, captioning it: “Government of India officially removes Bitchat from the App Store.”
The notification from Apple addressed to Dorsey included the following excerpt:
We are writing to inform you that your application will be removed from the India App Store, as per the directive from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
This decision arises from content deemed illegal in India, which fails to comply with our App Review Guidelines.
However, Apple’s communication does not specifically delineate the content that prompted the Indian government’s classification as illegal.
The removal was executed in accordance with Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, a legal provision that conveys the authority to the central government to obstruct public access to digital content.
The Legal Framework Underpinning the Order
Section 69A serves as the legislative framework that India employs to mandate the takedown of applications, websites, and digital content.
Critics of this provision argue that the procedural safeguards it entails are frequently overlooked. In February 2026, India’s Supreme Court reiterated that only the central government possesses the authority to order the blocking of content under this section, excluding magistrates or criminal courts.
“The Blocking Rules, 2009 present a comprehensive code embedding procedural protections,” the Supreme Court maintained.
Throughout the year, MeitY has invoked Section 69A on multiple occasions. In June, the ministry temporarily curtailed access to Telegram in India ahead of the NEET-UG medical entrance re-examination until June 22.
This order also restricted Telegram’s message-editing feature until June 30, following allegations that the platform was being used to manipulate evidence related to paper leaks.
A Shift from Previous Attempts in July
The App Store removal marks a divergence from an earlier unsuccessful legal pursuit to deactivate Bitchat.
On July 23, 2026, the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), operating under the Ministry of Home Affairs, issued a takedown mandate to GitHub, instructing the removal of three Bitchat-related repositories within a stringent three-hour timeframe.
This directive referenced Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act, which pertains to intermediary safe-harbor protections, as opposed to the Section 69A blocking procedure.
The Internet Freedom Foundation, a prominent digital rights entity based in New Delhi, decried the July mandate as “unconstitutional and authoritarian.”
The organization contended that I4C had circumvented the legally mandated blocking protocols, which involve judicial oversight.
The notice characterized Bitchat’s underlying technology as a considerable challenge, indicating that the application “substantially hinders lawful interception, attribution, and investigation by law enforcement agencies.”
At that time, Dorsey articulated his concerns on X, stating: “the government of India does not favor technologies like Bitchat and seeks its removal.”
GitHub did not publicly confirm adherence to the exigent three-hour window, and conflicting reports emerged regarding whether the repositories had been deleted.
The code persisted in circulation through over 3,000 public forks that were established prior to the order.
The Significance of Bitchat to Activists
The timings of the removals in July and October are notable, coinciding with ongoing political agitation.
During the protests at Jantar Mantar in July 2026, where demonstrators gathered to voice concerns over alleged examination discrepancies, authorities implemented mobile internet shutdowns in proximity to protest sites.
In light of this, downloads of Bitchat surged dramatically. Between July 17 and 23, Indian users accounted for around 85 percent of the app’s global downloads, a stark increase from approximately 1 percent in the preceding month. Daily active users in India soared past 330,000 on July 23.
Bitchat is engineered as a peer-to-peer messaging platform, operating through Bluetooth mesh networks, thus necessitating neither an internet connection nor cellular service, and eschewing user registration.
Dorsey, also the co-founder of Twitter and the CEO of Block Inc., launched the app in July 2025, describing it as a weekend initiative aimed at exploring mesh networking, encryption, and store-and-forward messaging.
Additionally, the app integrates with the Nostr protocol to facilitate geographic chat rooms when internet connectivity is feasible.
Messages transmitted through Bitchat are secured with end-to-end encryption, employing the Noise Protocol, the same cryptographic system that underpins services like Signal and WhatsApp.
Notably, the application retains messages solely on personal devices, devoid of central servers, and features a panic mode that obliterates all data upon a user tapping the logo three times.
This architectural design renders Bitchat particularly advantageous in scenarios of infrastructural collapse or government-imposed blackouts, factors that are likely to attract scrutiny from regulatory bodies.
In April 2026, China previously removed Bitchat from its App Store at the demand of the Cyberspace Administration of China.
According to Apple’s correspondence with Dorsey, the TestFlight iteration of Bitchat will also be inaccessible for testing purposes in India, and public TestFlight links will cease to function for Indian users.
However, the app continues to be available in other regions where it was disseminated through App Store Connect.
MeitY has not elucidated which specific provision of Section 69A is applicable to Bitchat, nor has it disclosed the content within the application that contravenes Indian law. The notice instructs developers to directly reach out to MeitY for further clarification.
Source link: Glitchwire.com.
