Apple Removes Bitchat From India Store After MeitY Demand

Apple removed Bitchat from its India App Store after the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology demanded the app’s removal under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, according to an Apple notice shared publicly by developer Jack Dorsey on October 3. The notice said the demand concerned content considered illegal in India, but did not identify the content or spell out the precise grounds for the action. Apple’s notice said Bitchat would remain available in other selected territories. It also said the app’s TestFlight versions and public testing links would no longer be available in India. The notice describes restrictions on distribution; the material available does not establish that copies already installed on users’ phones were disabled. The reported Apple action follows an earlier government step involving Bitchat repositories on GitHub. On July 23, the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre directed GitHub to restrict access to the repositories, citing concerns that the app could frustrate lawful interception and operate during internet restrictions. That action relied on a different legal route from the Section 69A demand cited in Apple’s notice.