India’s Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) ordered GitHub to remove three Bitchat code repositories within three hours, invoking the IT Act and its 2021 Rules. The app, built by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, routes messages directly between nearby phones over Bluetooth mesh networks with no internet, servers, phone numbers, or accounts, which the agency says prevents lawful interception. I4C warned the app could be exploited during public disorder, riots, terrorism, organized crime, or internet shutdowns. Digital rights group Internet Freedom Foundation condemned the order as unconstitutional and authoritarian. India is not the first state to move against the technology: China had already pulled it from Apple’s App Store in April, and the code was mirrored to a decentralized platform hours after India’s crackdown.
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