Amid intensifying protests by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has ordered that BitChat, a Bluetooth-based messenger service, be taken down.
The app is reportedly used by CJP protesters whenever internet shutdowns are enforced around Delhi's Jantar Mantar, in order to stay connected even without the internet.
According to BitChat, its "no internet required, no servers, no phone numbers" policy paves the way for censorship resistance, surveillance resistance, and infrastructure independence.
The MHA order was revealed by Jack Dorsey—the co-founder of X (formerly Twitter) and the founder of BitChat as well—who posted screenshots of the order and claimed that "the Government of India does not like technologies like bitchat and wants it taken down".
Issued by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) of the MHA, the order directs GitHub to remove or disable access to three repositories hosting Bitchat, stating that the app could be used to bypass internet shutdowns, evade lawful interception, and help coordinate unlawful assemblies during public-order situations.
Calling it a communication platform capable of establishing decentralised peer-to-peer messaging over Bluetooth mesh networks without relying on mobile networks, internet connectivity, or centralised servers, the MHA has alleged that BitChat "enables anonymous communication without mandatory user registration, phone number verification, or centralised logging of communications".
Invoking Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act, 2000 and Rule 3(1)(d) of the IT Rules, 2021, GitHub has now been asked to disable the app within three hours of the notice being issued.
Citing intelligence inputs, the MHA order also stated that such platforms could be exploited for unlawful assemblies, violent protests, the spread of misinformation, criminal conspiracies, and other dangerous activities.
The civil rights group Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) has already decried that the MHA order was "unconstitutional and authoritarian".
This comes as the MHA on Thursday enforced its fifth internet crackdown around Jantar Mantar since July 17.
Citing "public safety" as the reason, the order applied to a 1.5-km radius of the Jantar Mantar, and was approved by the Union Home Secretary under the Telecommunication Act, 2023 and the Telecommunications (Temporary Suspension of Services) Rules, 2024.
This comes amid intensifying protests by the CJP over accountability in education, particularly the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in connection with the NEET paper leak case.
The satirical collective had also called for a nationwide protest on Friday, after which the Centre began another round of talks with them.
