Why Indian government asked GitHub to remove 'Bitchat' repositories
What's the story
The Indian government's recent attempt to take down GitHub repositories hosting Jack Dorsey's offline Bluetooth-powered messaging app, Bitchat, has sparked a legal debate. The issue was highlighted by Dorsey himself, who shared a notice from India's Ministry of Home Affairs on X. The notice asked GitHub to remove access to three Bitchat repositories within three hours, citing concerns over the app's anonymous and decentralized nature potentially enabling illegal activities.
Protests impact
Government crackdown on internet amid student protests
The move comes as Indian authorities impose stricter internet restrictions amid student-led protests over alleged examination paper leaks.
The "cockroach" movement has seen thousands of young Indians demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
Some protesters reportedly turned to offline messaging apps like Bitchat and Briar after internet services were suspended.
Legal debate
Legal expert questions government's takedown notice
Mishi Choudhary, founder of SFLC.in, an Indian digital rights legal advocacy group, questioned the legal basis of the government's move.
She noted that unlike many government takedown requests, this one doesn't specify particular posts or messages containing illegal content.
Instead, it argues Bitchat's functionality during internet shutdowns and without central servers could facilitate unlawful activity.
Rising trend
Bitchat's popularity surge in India
Bitchat has witnessed a massive surge in popularity in India lately.
According to data from market intelligence provider Sensor Tower, India accounted for nearly 85% of the app's global downloads between July 17 and July 23. This is a stark contrast to the roughly 1% share it had.
The app was downloaded more than 91,000 times in India over five days, with its daily active users crossing over 330,000 on Thursday, the highest ever for the app in this country.
Advocacy response
Digital rights activists react to takedown notice
The Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF), a digital rights advocacy group based in New Delhi, questioned the efficacy of the government's takedown request.
It argued that deleting a repository doesn't remove the app from phones carrying it and prevents scrutiny of the underlying code.
Raman Chima, global program director at global digital rights network Association for Progressive Communications, said this notice goes beyond targeting Bitchat itself by seeking to remove its open-source code from GitHub.