Bitchat’s Offline Promise Runs Into India’s Regulatory Wall

Bitchat was designed around a simple idea: messaging should still work when the internet does not. In India, that promise has now run into a very different kind of barrier — regulation. The decentralised messaging app founded by Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey has been removed from Apple’s App Store in India following a government direction.

Dorsey shared anemail from Apple stating that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology had ordered the app’s removal under Section 69A of the IT Act over content allegedly considered illegal in the country. Apple did not specify what content triggered the order.

The restrictions go beyond a standard App Store delisting. Apple also blocked Bitchat’s beta access through TestFlight in India, while the app remains available in other markets. Bitchat is no longer available through the Google Play Store either, and its website also appears inaccessible in India, although it is unclear whether those restrictions stem from the same government direction.

Launched in 2025, Bitchat allows users to communicate directly through Bluetooth mesh networks without internet connectivity, central servers or even traditional user accounts. That architecture makes it useful during network outages, disasters and areas with weak connectivity but it also creates challenges for authorities seeking subscriber information or communication records during investigations.

Those concerns had surfaced earlier. India’s cybercrime coordination agency had previously raised questions about Bitchat’s anonymous design and warned that the platform could potentially be used to avoid surveillance or communicate during internet shutdowns. The latest action therefore puts Bitchat at the centre of a broader debate facing decentralised communication tools: whether systems designed specifically to minimise central control can coexist with regulatory frameworks built around platform accountability and traceability.