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Internet Freedom Foundation challenges India BitChat GitHub takedown order
The group says the order was issued under an IT law provision rather than India’s website-blocking process, and it did not point to any specific unlawful content in the repositories.
India’s Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) condemned a government order directing GitHub to remove repositories for Jack Dorsey’s decentralized messaging app BitChat, arguing the action is unconstitutional and could chill free speech and open-source development, according to Cointelegraph. IFF said the order exceeded the government’s legal authority because it relied on Section 79(3)(b) of India’s Information Technology Act instead of the country’s formal website-blocking process, which it said includes procedural safeguards. The group called on the government to withdraw the notice and to publish all takedown orders issued under that provision. The IFF disputed the government’s rationale, saying the order did not identify any unlawful content in the repositories. Instead, it said the justification rested on BitChat’s decentralized design, which it described as enabling encrypted communication over Bluetooth without internet access or centralized servers. Cointelegraph reported the backdrop to the dispute, including a cybercrime agency directive to disable access to three BitChat repositories within three hours, citing concerns that the app could be used to bypass internet shutdowns, evade lawful surveillance, and facilitate unlawful activity. BitChat, released in July 2025, has seen download and adoption gains during protests, natural disasters, and internet outages, the outlet said, including in countries such as Madagascar, Nepal, Uganda, Jamaica, and Iran.