Preparing for disruption: Offline messaging apps join India’s protest toolkit
- On Thursday, the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre ordered GitHub to remove Bitchat, the decentralized messaging app developed by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, within 3 hours citing security risks.
- Demonstrators under the Cockroach Janta Party banner have increasingly adopted Bitchat to coordinate during government-imposed internet shutdowns at protest sites in New Delhi.
- The I4C notice alleges Bitchat's design "significantly impedes lawful interception, attribution and investigation by law enforcement agencies" by enabling anonymous communication without centralized servers or user registration.
- On Friday, Dorsey shared the notice on X, stating, "The Government of India does not like technologies like Bitchat and wants it taken down."
- While GitHub faces the removal order, the app remains accessible via over 2,000 forks on the platform and was previously removed from the China App Store for similar concerns.
52 Articles
52 Articles
India orders GitHub to remove Jack Dorsey’s Bitchat repositories
India’s cybercrime authority has ordered GitHub to remove three repositories linked to Jack Dorsey’s Bitchat messaging app within three hours. According to a July 23 notice shared by Dorsey on X, the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre directed the Microsoft-owned…
Cointelegraph
The New York LedgerIndia’s IFF Calls BitChat GitHub Takedown Unconstitutional
India’s Internet Freedom Foundation says a government order to remove Jack Dorsey’s BitChat repositories from GitHub is unconstitutional and exceeds legal authority.
India Orders GitHub to Block BitChat
If you’re tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. India’s Cyber Crime Coordination Centre last night ordered GitHub to disable access to BitChat, the peer-to-peer messaging app backed by Jack Dorsey. The order, Notice No. 11072601011432, went out at 11:16 pm under Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology...
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