India’s Web Freedom Basis (IFF) has condemned a authorities order directing GitHub to take away repositories for Jack Dorsey’s decentralized messaging app BitChat, calling the transfer unconstitutional and warning it threatens free speech and open-source software program.
The assertion got here a day after India’s cybercrime company ordered GitHub to disable entry to a few BitChat repositories inside three hours, saying the decentralized messaging app may very well be used to bypass web shutdowns, evade lawful surveillance and facilitate illegal actions.
In its assertion posted on X on Friday, IFF argued the order exceeded the federal government’s authorized authority as a result of it was issued below Part 79(3)(b) of India’s Info Know-how Act as an alternative of the nation’s formal website-blocking course of, which incorporates procedural safeguards. The group known as on the federal government to withdraw the discover and publish all takedown orders issued below the availability.
The group additionally disputed the federal government’s justification, noting the order didn’t determine any illegal content material within the repositories and as an alternative argued the app’s decentralized design, which allows communication over Bluetooth with out web entry or centralized servers, was itself grounds for removing.
BitChat is a decentralized messaging app that routes encrypted messages between close by gadgets over Bluetooth with out counting on web connectivity or centralized servers.
Since its launch in July 2025, the app has gained traction throughout protests, pure disasters and web shutdowns, with downloads and adoption surging in periods of unrest and web outages in nations together with Madagascar, Nepal, Uganda, Jamaica and Iran.
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