India’s cybercrime authority has ordered GitHub to remove three repositories connected to Jack Dorsey’s Bitchat messaging app, giving the Microsoft-owned platform three hours to disable access to the project’s open-source code, Android application and release files.

The directive was issued by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre, or I4C, which operates under India’s Ministry of Home Affairs. According to a July 23 notice shared by Dorsey on X, the agency cited surveillance and security risks linked to Bitchat’s anonymous, offline Bluetooth mesh-network design.

the government of india does not like technologies like bitchat and wants it taken down pic.twitter.com/gjzMg1NGCi — jack (@jack) July 24, 2026

https://x.com/jack/status/2080565084586135773?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

The notice, numbered 11072601011432, invoked Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, and Rule 3(1)(d) of the Information Technology Rules, 2021. Digital rights group Internet Freedom Foundation said the order also warned GitHub that failure to comply could result in the loss of legal protection and possible criminal proceedings.

Dorsey made the previously unpublished directive public on July 24, as authorities restricted communications around an ongoing student protest in central New Delhi. Responding to the order, the former Twitter chief wrote that “the Government of India does not like technologies like Bitchat and wants it taken down.”

Authorities suspended mobile internet within a 1.5-kilometer radius of Jantar Mantar from 4 p.m. until midnight on July 23, according to a Ministry of Home Affairs order reported by the Times of India. Police had also activated mobile jammers near the protest area one day earlier.

The demonstrations, led by the Cockroach Janta Party, relate to alleged irregularities in the 2026 NEET examination and demands for changes to India’s examination system. The Times of India reported that some participants began using Bluetooth-based messaging services after the temporary network restrictions took effect.

The order puts an open-source code host at the center of a dispute over how far government takedown powers can reach when the target is not a single post or account, but software that can be copied, modified and redistributed outside the original platform.

I4C gave GitHub three hours to remove the code

I4C based its concerns on Bitchat’s capacity to transmit messages without mobile service, internet access or centralized infrastructure. Because the app does not require accounts, phone numbers or persistent user identities, the agency argued that its architecture obstructs lawful interception, user attribution and criminal investigations.

In the notice, I4C alleged that decentralized communication platforms could facilitate unlawful assemblies, violent protests, misinformation, radicalization and criminal conspiracies. The authority also cited the risk of misuse by terrorist organizations, organized crime groups and cybercriminals seeking to communicate during legally imposed network restrictions, according to the Times of India.

Alongside the intermediary rules used to compel GitHub, I4C alleged violations of Sections 43, 84B and 84C of the IT Act. The notice also referred to Section 61, read with Sections 196 and 197, of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Times of India reported.

IFF challenged both the legal basis and the scope of the action. In a July 24 statement, the organization described the blocking of Bitchat’s code as “unconstitutional and authoritarian,” arguing that Section 79 governs the conditions under which online intermediaries retain protection from liability for third-party material.

Statement : The blocking of BitChat's code on GitHub is unconstitutional and authoritarian. New Delhi, 24 July 2026 The Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) condemns the order issued by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), Ministry of Home Affairs, directing GitHub… pic.twitter.com/s3wdJEOPK7 — Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) (@internetfreedom) July 24, 2026

https://x.com/internetfreedom/status/2080586673977438351?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Citing the Supreme Court’s ruling in Shreya Singhal v. Union of India, IFF said Section 79 is not an independent blocking power. The group said the notice targeted an entire software project without identifying a specific message, file or other item of unlawful content.

SFLC.in founder Mishi Choudhary raised a similar objection, telling Moneycontrol that Section 79 is distinct from Section 69A, India’s statutory process for blocking online material. According to Choudhary, Section 79 does not allow the government to declare a full software project illegal or punish GitHub merely for hosting its code.

That distinction is central to the objections from digital rights groups: the cited intermediary liability provision concerns when platforms retain protection for third-party content, while critics said a blocking action against an entire software repository would ordinarily require a separate legal basis and a more specific identification of unlawful material.

Bitchat can remain usable after repository removal

Bitchat routes messages between nearby devices through Bluetooth Low Energy, allowing each participating phone to relay data to another device in the mesh. The project’s GitHub documentation says messages can travel across as many as seven hops without an internet connection.

The project also supports end-to-end encrypted private messages, automatic peer discovery and an emergency wipe feature. For online communications, its dual-transport system can use the decentralized Nostr protocol, while the local Bluetooth layer continues to work independently when conventional networks fail.

Removing the repositories would make the original source code and official release files harder to obtain through GitHub, but it would not remotely disable copies already installed on users’ phones. Technology expert Deepak Gupta told Moneycontrol that the order would also leave copies hosted elsewhere unaffected.

IFF cited that limitation in challenging the stated purpose of the notice, arguing that an offline mesh cannot be shut down through a single platform-level removal. The organization asked the government to withdraw the directive, publish takedown orders issued through the cited provisions and restore full connectivity around Jantar Mantar.

India’s action follows an April order from the Cyberspace Administration of China that led Apple to remove Bitchat from its China App Store and TestFlight service. Apple’s notice cited rules covering online services with public-opinion or social-mobilization capabilities. Bitchat had also gained users during network disruptions and protests in Nepal, Madagascar, Uganda and Iran, according to reports cited in coverage of the Chinese removal.