The Bitchat app has been removed from Apple’s India App Store after the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) issued a takedown demand under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, according to an Apple App Review notice shared by Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey.
Dorsey posted a screenshot of the notice on X on Saturday, saying the Indian government had “officially” removed the offline messaging application from the App Store. Apple said Bitchat contained content that was “illegal in India” and therefore did not comply with its App Review Guidelines.
The notice did not specify which content was considered illegal or identify the particular ground under Section 69A that was invoked. Apple directed the developer to contact MeitY for further information about the removal and the legal requirements applicable in India.
The action is limited to Apple’s India storefront. Apple said Bitchat would remain available in other countries where the developer had made it available. The app was not available on the India App Store when checked on Saturday.
Apple also said Bitchat’s TestFlight version would no longer be available for internal or external testing in India. Public TestFlight links for the application would also stop working in the country, extending the impact beyond the public App Store listing.
Bitchat is designed as a decentralised, peer-to-peer messaging application. It uses Bluetooth Low Energy, or BLE, mesh networks rather than requiring an internet connection, a phone number or central servers. Devices can connect over an approximate range of 30 to 100 metres, with phones relaying messages across multiple hops to extend the network’s reach.
That technical design places Bitchat in a different category from conventional messaging services that depend on mobile networks, Wi-Fi and centrally managed infrastructure. It can allow nearby users to exchange messages when cellular or internet connectivity is unavailable, although the source report does not provide details about the scale of its Indian user base or the specific content cited by MeitY.
The App Store removal follows earlier action involving the application. During the Cockroach Janata Party protests in July, the government ordered GitHub to remove access to Bitchat, saying the application could be misused by anti-national elements, terrorist organisations, organised criminal groups and cybercriminals.
According to ET, that earlier order was sent by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre, or I4C, under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. The order directed GitHub to disable access to three Bitchat repositories within three hours.
The latest action illustrates how restrictions on a digital service can involve multiple institutional and technical points of control, including application marketplaces, software repositories and testing platforms. In this case, Apple’s notice identifies MeitY as the authority behind the India App Store takedown, while the earlier GitHub action was attributed to I4C.
The available notice and report do not establish whether the application itself has been blocked across all networks in India, nor do they state whether the developer has challenged the order. Apple’s next step, as set out in its notice, is for the developer to contact MeitY regarding the reasons for removal and the legal requirements in India.
