Wire · regulatory
India orders GitHub to remove Jack Dorsey's Bitchat repositories
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Fusion42 · 25 July 2026 · Fusion42 review
India's cybercrime authority ordered GitHub to remove Jack Dorsey's Bitchat repositories within three hours, citing surveillance risks from the app's anonymous, Bluetooth-based mesh messaging architecture. Digital rights groups challenged the order as unconstitutional overreach, arguing the government misapplied intermediary liability law to block an entire open-source project without identifying specific unlawful content.
This Wire brief sits within Fusion42's coverage of Crypto & Web3, and 6 sources have reported it between 24 Jul 2026 and 26 Jul 2026.
◆ ◆ The Wire takeaway
If you're hosting open-source code on GitHub, India just proved it can order your entire project removed without identifying unlawful content—and GitHub complies. The legal theory is murky, but the practical jolt is clear: decentralised and offline-first tooling faces existential risk in jurisdictions where state communications control is a priority.
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6 sources · first reported 24 Jul 2026 · latest 26 Jul 2026
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