Indian Ministry of Home Affairs Order to Block Bitchat Sparks Legal Debate
Jack Dorsey publishes Indian Home Ministry notice ordering GitHub to restrict access to the Bitchat app amid protests and internet shutdowns.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
- The Indian Ministry of Home Affairs issued an order for GitHub to block 3 Bitchat code repositories within 3 hours.
- It claims the decentralized and anonymous architecture may facilitate illegal activities.
- The Bitchat and Briar apps experienced a surge in popularity amid anti-government protests in New Delhi.
- Digital rights groups point out that the order lacks clear legal grounds for removing an entire software project.
The issue surrounding the Bitchat application gained attention after Jack Dorsey posted a message on the X platform on Friday, stating it was a notice from India's Ministry of Home Affairs. The order demanded that GitHub restrict access to three Bitchat code repositories within 3 hours, arguing that the app's decentralized and anonymous infrastructure could facilitate illegal acts and allow users to communicate during internet shutdowns, making it harder for government agencies to monitor or legally intercept them.
This move comes as Indian authorities tighten internet control measures following weeks of student-led protests in New Delhi over a leaked examination paper.
The protests, known as the "Cockroach" movement, have drawn thousands of youth to gather and demand the resignation of India's Minister of Education, Dharmendra Pradhan. Meanwhile, authorities enforced restrictions on marches toward parliament. Local media reported that some protesters downloaded offline messaging applications, including Bitchat and Briar, after internet services were suspended.
Mishi Choudhary, founder of SFLC.in, a digital rights advocacy group in India, noted that this order represents a novel approach. Unlike the period before 2021, when the Indian government mostly relied on Section 69A of the Information Technology Act and the 2009 Blocking Rules to remove content nationwide, she told TechCrunch that the document resembles recent government content removal notices, but the cited legal provisions do not explicitly authorize ordering the removal of an entire software project simply because of how the software functions, rather than specific illegal content.
Technically, mesh messaging applications that operate via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi without relying on central servers or internet signals are crucial tools for communication during disasters or communication blackouts. However, from the perspective of many governments, this type of technology raises concerns about monitoring and law enforcement because data is passed peer-to-peer between users' devices without any intermediary for the government to easily request data or block it. Attempting to shut down code repositories on GitHub is an effort to cut off access to the tool at its source.
The notice, dated July 23 and issued by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), stated that Bitchat allows users to communicate even amidst network restrictions and internet shutdowns, thereby evading legal constraints while hindering interception, identification, and legal tracking.
In recent days, Bitchat has seen a rapid surge in popularity in India. According to Sensor Tower data, India accounted for approximately 85% of global app downloads between July 17 and 23, up from about 1% in the preceding 30 days. The app was downloaded over 91,000 times in India over the past five days, after downloads surged 32-fold on July 19 compared to the previous day. Additionally, the app's daily active users in India spiked above 330,000 on Thursday, marking an all-time high for the app in the country.
"This order is also self-defeating because deleting code repositories does not remove the application from any phone that already has it, and the mesh network can continue to operate without servers. What this block actually prevents is preliminary code auditing."
Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF)
Raman Jit Singh Chima, global cybersecurity policy director at Access Now, told TechCrunch that the notice goes far beyond targeting messaging services themselves by attempting to remove their open-source code from GitHub.
Meanwhile, GitHub has not confirmed whether it received the document. On Friday, the repositories were still accessible from within India. When asked about the notice, the company shared a link to a public repository collecting government takedown requests, which contained no recent requests related to Bitchat.
Source: TechCrunch
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