The Union Home Ministry on Thursday asked software platform GitHub to remove the repositories for Bitchat, a Bluetooth-based messaging application that can function without internet, citing security concerns, according to a notice shared by application developer Jack Dorsey.
Dorsey is a tech entrepreneur and the co-founder of Twitter, now known as X.
The notice came against the backdrop of reports that youth demonstrators at Jantar Mantar – who have been protesting against the alleged irregularities in the conduct of competitive examinations – have been using such applications amid temporary internet restrictions in parts of central Delhi since Monday.
Dorsey shared the notice on social media on Friday, a day after it was issued, saying that “the government of India does not like technologies like Bitchat and wants it taken down”.
The Union government has yet to comment on the matter.
Bitchat is an open-source, decentralised messaging application that allows nearby users to communicate without mobile data, Wi-Fi, phone numbers or centralised servers. It uses Bluetooth Low Energy to connect nearby phones, with each device capable of relaying messages to others and thereby extending the network’s reach. Private messages are end-to-end encrypted, and the application does not require users to create accounts or provide persistent identifiers.
In its notice, the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre said that “such decentralised communication platforms” could be exploited for “coordinating unlawful assemblies, violent protests, dissemination of misinformation, radicalisation, criminal conspiracies, and other activities prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India”.
The order was issued under Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, and Rule 3(1)(d) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. It directed GitHub to disable access to three repositories linked to Bitchat within three hours.
The provisions require intermediaries to remove or disable access to content after receiving government directions, failing which they risk losing the legal immunity or “safe harbour” protecting it from liability for user-uploaded content.
Digital rights organisation, the Internet Freedom Foundation condemned the directive and said it stands “with the developers and the young protesters whose speech this order seeks to silence”.
The organisation noted that the government had not made the notice public and that its contents became known only after Dorsey shared it.
It argued that the order did not identify any specific unlawful content in the repositories and instead objected to the application’s ability to function during internet restrictions.
The organisation also questioned the legal basis of the action, arguing that the government’s concerns about possible misuse of the technology could not by themselves justify blocking access to the code.
Youth protests
The protests began on June 6, when the Cockroach Janta Party political campaign began an agitation at Jantar Mantar to demand the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan for the alleged mismanagement of national competitive exams.
On Sunday, thousands joined the protest in Delhi after the police forced activist Sonam Wangchuk, who had been on a hunger strike, into hospital.
A march to Parliament on Monday was met with a brutal crackdown by the police. Dozens were injured by police lathis and had to brave tear gas.
The police action widened the support for the agitation, which soon spread to other parts of the country.
Written by Sara Varghese. Edited by Tanya Shrivastava.
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