Apple pulls Jack Dorsey's BitChat from India's App Store after MeitY order

Apple has removed Bitchat, the Bluetooth mesh messaging app built by Jack Dorsey, from its India App Store. Dorsey posted Apple's notice on X on October 3. It said the app was being removed per a demand from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, and that it "includes content that is illegal in India." The notice did not say which content was illegal. TestFlight access for Indian testers was also discontinued, and TokenPost reported the app was unavailable on Google Play in India as well, though it remains on Apple's store outside the country.

Bitchat works without an internet connection, which made it popular with protesters bypassing internet restrictions. India accounted for about 85% of its global downloads from July 17 to July 23, during mobile internet restrictions at protests. Hindustan Times reported that the removal came amid an anti-Election Commission stir; the government has not linked the order to any specific protest.

The Internet Freedom Foundation condemned the removal as unconstitutional and listed four demands. It argued that Section 69A permits blocking unlawful information, "not of a messenger for working during internet shutdowns." It asked MeitY to publish the blocking order and withdraw the direction in favor of targeted due process, for Apple to disclose the demand in its transparency reports and notify Indian users, and for amendments to the Blocking Rules 2009 to require publication of orders.

The App Store removal escalates an earlier action. On July 23, the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre directed GitHub to disable three Bitchat repositories, citing mesh networking that "could impede lawful interception, attribution and criminal investigation."

What to watch: whether MeitY publishes the order or faces a legal challenge, whether Apple discloses the demand in a transparency report as the IFF requested.