Apple removes Bitchat from its App Store in India due to legal concerns

Apple has removed the offline messaging app Bitchat from its App Store in India. The app's developer, Jack Dorsey, announced this information via a social media post on Saturday. He stated that this action was taken at the request of the Ministry of Information Technology. Dorsey also shared a screenshot of the notice sent by Apple’s app review team.

According to Apple's notice, the app was removed from the App Store in India because it contained content deemed illegal in the country. It was stated that the app did not comply with the app review guidelines. The company also mentioned that the developer could contact the ministry directly for more information regarding the app's removal or India's laws and requirements.

Bitchat will remain available on app stores in other countries. In India, its TestFlight version will not be available, and public TestFlight links will not function.

This is the second instance of government action against Bitchat. Earlier in July, the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Center (I4C) directed GitHub, owned by Microsoft, to remove Bitchat. At that time, Dorsey expressed his objection to the government’s actions, stating that the Indian government does not favor technologies like Bitchat and wishes to remove it. Bitchat facilitates direct communication between nearby devices through a Bluetooth-based decentralized network, enabling communication even when internet services are restricted.

Reported by Amar Ujala Tech.