Quick Take
- India’s I4C gave Microsoft-owned GitHub three hours to disable three Bitchat code repositories.
- The July 23 order flags surveillance risks from Bitchat’s offline Bluetooth mesh design.
- This marks India’s first takedown notice aimed at software code, not online content.
In This Article
India’s Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) ordered Microsoft-owned GitHub on July 23, 2026 to disable three Bitchat repositories, making the GitHub Bitchat takedown the country’s first order aimed at software code itself, not any single post.
The I4C, part of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), gave GitHub just three hours to comply. Jack Dorsey, the former Twitter chief who built Bitchat, made the notice public on X on July 24. The Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF), a digital rights group, called the order unconstitutional and asked the government to withdraw it.
StartupFeed Insight
The GitHub Bitchat order breaks new ground because it treats open-source code as the threat, not any user or message. That should worry every developer who publishes privacy tools from India. Open-source code, once forked, travels faster than any takedown can reach it, and Bitchat already carries more than 27,000 GitHub stars and thousands of forks across the world, according to its GitHub page. Expect the Internet Freedom Foundation to move the Delhi High Court against this order before September 2026, and expect GitHub to seek legal clarity rather than delete the main repository outright. StartupFeed will track every filing. By Harshvardhan Jain.
What did the GitHub Bitchat takedown order demand?
The GitHub Bitchat takedown order is a formal intermediary notice issued under India’s Information Technology Act, 2000. It named three repositories on the permissionlesstech account and set a strict three-hour window for removal, according to the IFF.
| Metric | Detail | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Issuing body | I4C, under the MHA | Notice No. 11072601011432 (IFF) |
| Target | Three permissionlesstech repositories | Main app, Android build, release files |
| Deadline | Three hours from issue | Issued 11:16 pm, July 23, 2026 (IFF) |
| Legal basis | Section 79(3)(b), IT Act, with Rule 3(1)(d), IT Rules 2021 | Also cites Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Section 61 (IFF) |
| Penalty warned | Loss of safe harbour, criminal prosecution | Applies to GitHub as intermediary (I4C notice) |
| Public disclosure | Jack Dorsey posted the notice on X | July 24, 2026 |
The sharpest detail: the notice cites no specific illegal file or message, per the IFF. It objects to what Bitchat is, software that keeps working during network shutdowns, rather than anything a user actually did with it.
About Bitchat
Bitchat is a decentralised, peer-to-peer messaging app that runs over Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) mesh networks, with no internet, servers, or phone numbers required. Jack Dorsey, the Block CEO and Twitter co-founder, launched it in July 2025 as an open-source project. Messages hop across up to seven nearby devices using Noise Protocol encryption, and fall back to the Nostr protocol when the internet is available, according to the Bitchat technical whitepaper.
Why did India target the GitHub Bitchat code?
The I4C argued that Bitchat’s design blocks lawful investigation. Its notice said the app allows anonymous communication without mandatory registration, phone number verification, or centralised logging, which impedes lawful interception, attribution, and investigation by law enforcement (I4C notice). It warned that the tool could be misused during riots, terrorism, organised crime, or active internet shutdowns.
Timing explains the urgency behind the GitHub Bitchat action. Students have camped at Jantar Mantar in Delhi since June over alleged irregularities in the 2026 National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET). The MHA has suspended mobile internet around the site about five times since July 17, most recently within a 1.5 km radius, per the IFF and the Times of India. Some protesters then turned to Bluetooth-based messaging once the networks went dark.
What does the GitHub Bitchat order mean for coders?
The GitHub Bitchat order sets a precedent that reaches every open-source developer, not just Bitchat. If a government can ask a host to pull source code because of what the code might enable, any privacy or security repository becomes a target. Dorsey made his own view public within hours.
India “does not like technologies like Bitchat and wants it taken down,” Jack Dorsey, Bitchat founder, wrote on X.
The IFF read the order as a misuse of intermediary rules, which normally shield platforms from liability for third-party content. In its Internet Freedom Foundation statement, the group called the block on Bitchat’s code authoritarian and asked the MHA to pull it back.
How does Bitchat compare to other mesh apps?
Bitchat is not the first offline messenger, but it is the most visible one. Bluetooth mesh apps have surfaced in protests and disasters for years, and each takes a slightly different approach.
| App | Origin | Scale | Key trait |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bitchat | Jack Dorsey, open-source | 27,000+ GitHub stars | BLE mesh, Nostr fallback, no accounts |
| Bridgefy | Bridgefy Inc. | 12 Mn+ users (TechTarget) | Widely used in protests, disasters |
| Briar | Briar Project, open-source | Niche, privacy-focused | Combines Tor and Bluetooth |
What sets Bitchat apart is reach plus a famous name. You can read its full code on the main Bitchat repository on GitHub, and Dorsey’s involvement pushes downloads far beyond a typical open-source tool.
What’s Next
GitHub has not publicly confirmed whether it removed the three repositories, and the main project stayed reachable at press time. The IFF has asked the MHA to withdraw the notice and may take the GitHub Bitchat matter to court. Watch for a formal GitHub response or a Delhi High Court petition in the coming weeks. Will India’s first code-level takedown survive a constitutional test?
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