Bitchat, Jack Dorsey's Internet-Free Messaging App, Taken Off Indian App Stores After Government Order

Bitchat, Jack Dorsey's decentralized messaging app designed to work without an internet connection, has been removed from Apple and Google's app stores in India following a government order. The move marks a significant escalation in New Delhi's months-long efforts to restrict access to the open-source tool.

What Happened

Dorsey said on Saturday that the Indian government had ordered Apple to remove Bitchat from its App Store in the country. In a notice from Apple that Dorsey posted on X, India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) issued the demand under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, the country's primary legal provision for government-ordered online blocking .

Apple's notice stated the app would be removed "per demand from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY)" because it "includes content that is illegal in India" . The notice did not specify what content triggered the takedown order.

Bitchat was also no longer available for download through Google Play in India when TechCrunch checked on Saturday, and Bitchat's website was inaccessible across various internet service providers in the country .

Apple's notice said Bitchat would remain available on its App Store outside India. However, access to the app through its TestFlight beta-testing service would also be blocked in the country .

According to people familiar with the matter, the MeitY order sought to withhold the app in India for three days .

What Is Bitchat

Launched by Dorsey in July 2025, Bitchat uses Bluetooth mesh networking to allow nearby devices to exchange encrypted messages without relying on cellular networks, internet access, or centralized servers. The app requires no accounts, phone numbers, or central identity system. Messages are stored only temporarily in device memory and are end-to-end encrypted .

The app's decentralized architecture means there is no central server or database, and therefore "cannot be a central kill switch," according to Namrata Maheshwari of digital rights nonprofit Access Now .

Earlier Attempt to Restrict Bitchat

This is not the first time Bitchat has faced regulatory action in India. In July 2026, Dorsey revealed that Indian authorities had ordered GitHub to take down repositories associated with the open-source messaging app .

The Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) said in its July order that Bitchat's architecture made it hard for law enforcement agencies to intercept communications or trace users, and pointed to its ability to continue operating during internet shutdowns. The July order relied on a provision of India's information technology law that deals with intermediaries and their liability for third-party content, which differs from Section 69A cited in Apple's latest notice .

The Protests Context

The latest restrictions on Bitchat come amid a new wave of youth-led protests over changes to the country's voter rolls. Police detained several people during demonstrations in New Delhi on Saturday, as protesters demanded the resignation of India's chief election commissioner over alleged manipulation of electoral rolls. Authorities suspended internet services around New Delhi's Jantar Mantar for 12 hours on Friday during protests there .

During July's protests, demonstrators reportedly turned to Bitchat and rival app Briar after authorities suspended internet services. Interest in Bitchat surged in India around that time. The country accounted for about 85% of the app's global downloads between July 17 and July 23, up from roughly 1% in the previous 30 days, according to data from market intelligence firm Sensor Tower .

Legal Concerns

The Internet Freedom Foundation, a New Delhi-based digital rights advocacy group, called the latest order unconstitutional, arguing that Section 69A allows the government to block unlawful information but not a messaging app because of its ability to operate during internet shutdowns. The group also said neither the blocking order nor the allegedly illegal content cited as the basis for the action had been made public .

IFF argued that the app has no servers and hosts no content of its own. "What travels through it is the private speech of its users, so the claim that the application 'includes' illegal content is incoherent" .

Apple, Google, and India's IT ministry did not respond to requests for comment .