Government orders GitHub to remove Bluetooth-based chat app Bitchat over security concerns: Jack Dorsey
The Indian government has ordered GitHub to remove the Bluetooth-based messaging app Bitchat, citing security concerns and the potential for misuse by criminal elements. Developer Jack Dorsey criticized the move, highlighting the government's opposition to decentralized communication technologies.
Why it matters
This highlights the ongoing tension between government surveillance/security mandates and the right to private, decentralized communication.
The Home Ministry’s cybercrime arm, the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre, has ordered Microsoft subsidiary GitHub to remove Bluetooth-based messaging application Bitchat, according to a notice.
“The Government of India does not like technologies like Bitchat and wants it taken down,” said the app’s developer and former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey on Friday (July 24, 2026) in an X post, sharing a copy of the notice dated July 23.
A query sent to I4C in this regard elicited no immediate reply.
In its notice, I4C said that the app enables communication even during network restrictions and creates a substantial risk of misuse by anti-national elements, terrorist organisations, organised criminal groups and cyber criminals seeking to evade lawful detection and continue communication despite legally imposed restrictions.
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