India’s Ministry of Home Affairs has asked GitHub to restrict access to three code repositories tied to Bitchat, an offline Bluetooth messaging app backed by Jack Dorsey, setting off a legal debate over the scope of takedown powers. Authorities argued that Bitchat’s decentralized design allows it to function during internet shutdowns, which they said could facilitate illegal activity and make lawful interception harder. The request came as the app saw a sharp concentration of downloads in India. Data cited in the report showed the country accounted for about 85% of Bitchat’s global downloads between July 17 and July 23. That surge followed local protests by students over an exam leak, after which network restrictions were imposed. Legal experts said the law cited by the government does not clearly authorize the removal of an entire open-source project solely because of how the software works, rather than because of specific unlawful content. The report was cited by TechCrunch.
India’s Ministry of Home Affairs has asked GitHub to restrict access to three code repositories for Bitchat, an offline Bluetooth messaging app tied to Jack Dorsey, according to TechCrunch.
The government said Bitchat’s decentralized architecture allows the app to work during internet shutdowns and could aid illegal activity while making lawful interception more difficult.
Data showed India accounted for about 85% of the app’s global downloads from July 17 to July 23. Before that, students in the country had staged protests over an exam leak, followed by network restrictions.
Legal experts said the legal provisions cited by the government do not clearly authorize the removal of an entire open-source project solely because of the software’s operating mechanism, rather than any specific illegal content.
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