Bitchat App Stays Online Despite India's Takedown Request

Bitchat, a messaging app backed by Jack Dorsey, recently faced a significant challenge from Indian authorities. During a wave of student protests in mid July 2026, the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre issued a notice to GitHub demanding the removal of Bitchat repositories. Officials argued that the app, which uses Bluetooth mesh technology and the Nostr protocol, prevents law enforcement from monitoring or attributing communications during network blackouts.

Despite the pressure from the government, the app remains available. Developers pointed to the government's own notice as proof of the app's effectiveness. The platform is designed to function without internet access, phone numbers, or central servers, making it highly resistant to standard censorship attempts. Users quickly mirrored the code on other platforms, ensuring the software stayed accessible even if GitHub had complied.

The app saw a massive surge in popularity in India, recording over 90,000 downloads in just five days as protesters sought reliable ways to communicate during internet restrictions. This follows a pattern seen in other countries like Nepal and Iran, where Bitchat became a primary communication tool during similar periods of civil unrest and connectivity issues.

This standoff highlights the growing tension between governments and decentralized technologies. As Bitchat continues to update its software to allow for direct peer to peer file sharing, it becomes increasingly difficult for authorities to suppress such tools. For the crypto community, this serves as a reminder of the increasing demand for censorship resistant infrastructure that operates outside of traditional telecommunications control.