India orders takedown of Jack Dorsey’s bitcoin-linked messaging app Bitchat

India just told GitHub to pull the plug on Bitchat, Jack Dorsey’s decentralized messaging app built on Bitcoin-inspired principles. The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre, known as I4C and housed under the Ministry of Home Affairs, issued the takedown order on July 23, giving GitHub a three-hour window to comply. The stated concern: Bitchat could be used to organize unlawful gatherings and circumvent government-imposed internet shutdowns during public-order crises. What Bitchat actually does Dorsey first announced Bitchat on July 6, 2025. The app operates as a fully decentralized peer-to-peer encrypted messenger that uses Bluetooth mesh networking. There are no central servers. No user registration. No phone number required. The enforcement action cited Section 79(3)(b) of India’s Information Technology Act, which allows the government to order intermediaries like GitHub to remove content once notified. Dorsey posted on X that the “government of india does not like technologies like bitchat and wants it taken down.” A pattern, not an isolated incident India isn’t the first country to take aim at Bitchat. China compelled Apple to remove the app from its China App Store back in A...