Apple has removed Bitchat from the India App Store following a demand from MeitY, according to an Apple App Review notice shared publicly by the app's developer, Jack Dorsey. The app remains available in other territories selected by its developer, according to the notice.

Apple told the developer that the removal followed a MeitY demand concerning content it said was illegal in India. The notice cited Apple's App Review Guidelines, which require applications to comply with local laws in the countries where they are distributed.

The notice specifically said MeitY had issued the takedown demand under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000. The Apple notice did not specify which content was considered illegal or identify the precise grounds invoked by MeitY.

Under Section 69A, the Central Government or an authorised officer can direct an agency or intermediary to block public access to information in specified circumstances, including matters involving national security, public order and prevention of certain cognisable offences. The provision also requires the prescribed procedure and safeguards to be followed.

Bitchat remains available outside India

Apple said the application would continue to be available in other App Store territories selected by the developer.

The TestFlight version, however, would no longer be available for internal or external testing in India, while public TestFlight links would also stop functioning in the country, according to the notice.

The removal was therefore geographically limited rather than a global withdrawal of the application.

What is Bitchat?

Bitchat is designed to allow nearby users to exchange messages through a Bluetooth mesh network without relying on mobile data, Wi-Fi infrastructure, phone numbers or email addresses.

Devices can relay messages between one another, allowing communication to extend beyond the immediate Bluetooth range. This design means the service can function even when conventional internet connectivity is unavailable.

The technology has attracted government scrutiny in India because its decentralised architecture can make conventional interception and attribution more difficult.

Government had targeted Bitchat repositories earlier

The Apple removal follows government action against Bitchat earlier in 2026.

In July, the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C), under the Ministry of Home Affairs, directed GitHub to restrict access to repositories hosting Bitchat. The order cited concerns that the application's design could be misused by criminal and terrorist groups and could make lawful interception and investigation more difficult.

The July action was based on provisions including Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act and Rule 3(1)(d) of the IT Rules, rather than the Section 69A route cited in the latest Apple notice. The earlier order also came amid protests in Delhi during which Bluetooth-based messaging applications were reportedly being used when internet connectivity was restricted.

Why the latest action matters

The Apple takedown closes another mainstream distribution route for Bitchat in India after the earlier action involving its GitHub repositories.

The latest notice also raises a distinction between the app itself and the content or information being blocked. Apple has cited a MeitY demand under Section 69A, but the notice shared by Dorsey does not publicly identify the specific content or legal ground behind that demand.

That distinction is significant because Section 69A is a statutory mechanism for directing the blocking of public access to information in specified circumstances, subject to prescribed safeguards.

MeitY has not publicly identified in the material cited here the specific content that triggered the latest demand. It is also unclear from Apple's notice whether similar directions were issued to other app stores.

The exact scope of the government's latest order and the material it sought to restrict therefore remain to be clarified.