Apple Removes Jack Dorsey’s Bitchat From India App Store After MeitY Order

Apple has removed Jack Dorsey’s decentralized messaging app Bitchat from its India App Store after receiving a takedown demand from India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

The move restricts new iPhone users in India from downloading an app designed to enable messaging without conventional internet connectivity or centralized servers.

 

TL;DR

 

• Apple removed Bitchat from its India App Store following a MeitY demand under Section 69A of the IT Act.
• Jack Dorsey confirmed the removal and shared Apple’s notice on X.
• Apple’s notice said the app included content considered illegal in India, but did not identify the specific content.
• Bitchat had already faced government scrutiny in India earlier this year.

 

Apple Removes Bitchat From India App Store

 

Apple removed Bitchat from its India App Store on October 3, following a demand from MeitY, according to reports from TechCrunch and The Economic Times.

Bitchat developer and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey confirmed the development on X, writing, “Government of India officially removes Bitchat from the App Store.”

Dorsey shared what appeared to be a notice from Apple’s App Review team. According to the notice reported by NDTV, Apple said Bitchat would be removed following a MeitY demand because it included content considered illegal in India.

The notice also reportedly stated that access through Apple’s TestFlight beta-distribution service would be restricted in India.

However, neither the notice shared by Dorsey nor publicly available reporting identified the specific content that authorities considered illegal.

 

Why Was Bitchat Removed In India?

 

The takedown demand was issued under Section 69A of India’s Information Technology Act, according to Mint. The provision gives India’s central government powers to direct intermediaries to block public access to information under specified circumstances.

Official MeitY materials on Section 69A state that blocking directions can be issued on grounds including India’s sovereignty and integrity, national defence, state security, friendly relations with foreign states, public order, or preventing incitement to certain offences.

Importantly, Apple’s notice as publicly reported does not establish which of these grounds was applied in Bitchat’s case. It said the app contained content considered illegal in India and directed the developer to contact MeitY for more information.

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What Is Bitchat?

 

Bitchat differs from conventional messaging services because it is designed to continue functioning locally without relying on a cellular network or traditional internet connection.

According to the app’s official Bitchat GitHub repository, it combines Bluetooth mesh networking for offline messaging with the Nostr protocol for internet-based communication. It does not require conventional user accounts or phone numbers and does not depend on a central messaging server.

Nearby devices can discover each other using Bluetooth Low Energy, with messages capable of being relayed across multiple devices. Bitchat also supports encrypted private messaging and location-based channels when an internet connection is available.

 

Bitchat Faced An Earlier India Takedown Demand

 

This is not Bitchat’s first encounter with Indian authorities.

In July, the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre reportedly directed GitHub to remove the Bitchat repository. At the time, Bitchat had experienced a sharp increase in Indian downloads, with TechCrunch reporting that India accounted for around 85% of its global downloads between July 17 and July 23.

The repository subsequently remained accessible, and its current documentation explicitly notes that the project has been targeted by takedown demands.

Meanwhile, reports said Bitchat was also unavailable through Google Play in India and that its website was inaccessible when checked. However, those checks did not independently establish whether the same government order caused the availability issues across those services.

For now, the central unanswered question remains what specific Bitchat content triggered MeitY’s latest action. Neither the Apple notice made public by Dorsey nor the available government materials cited in reporting provide that detail.