India’s government has sparked significant legal controversy by attempting to remove repositories for Bitchat, an offline messaging application created by Jack Dorsey, from GitHub. The Ministry of Home Affairs reportedly issued a notice demanding the removal of three repositories within three hours, citing concerns that the app’s decentralized, anonymous architecture could facilitate illegal activities and enable communication during internet shutdowns while hindering lawful surveillance.
The action follows weeks of student-led protests in New Delhi demanding the resignation of the Education Minister over alleged examination paper leaks. During internet service suspensions, demonstrators turned to offline messaging applications including Bitchat and Briar to maintain communication. Download data reveals that India accounted for approximately 85% of Bitchat’s global downloads between mid and late July, with daily active users in the country reaching over 330,000.
Digital rights advocates have challenged the government’s legal authority for the takedown. Experts argue the notice targets the software’s fundamental capabilities rather than specific illegal content, representing a departure from previous enforcement approaches. The move raises concerns about restricting open-source code development and potentially preventing public scrutiny of underlying technology. GitHub’s repositories remained accessible in India as of Friday, and the company did not confirm receiving the official notice.
Originally reported by Techcrunch →
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