Bitchat GitHub Removal: India Orders GitHub Takedown

**Executive summary:** On July 23, 2026, the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) reportedly ordered GitHub to disable three public repositories for Bitchat, a decentralized Bluetooth mesh messaging application, under Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act and Rule 3(1)(d) of the IT Rules, 2021; authorities cited concerns that the app’s peer-to-peer architecture could impede lawful interception, attribution, and digital investigations, and the report frames the action as part of a broader debate between privacy/open-source development and public-safety/regulatory compliance.