Government orders to block BitChat app, rumor was being spread without mobile network in CJP Protest

I4C, the cyber security wing of the Home Ministry, has ordered to block the BitChat app. Through this app, messages can be sent even without mobile network. It is especially used for communication during internet shutdown. I4C has asked GitHub to block access to this app. This app is being used to spread rumors during CJP Protest.

What is BitChat?

Twitter founders Jack Dorsey and Doris Lima have developed this app. In this, communication can be done even without mobile network and internet by using mesh network. According to I4C, this app works on Bluetooth mesh network. This app is especially used during internet shutdown. At present, Delhi Police is also investigating the use of Bluetooth based messaging apps during the ‘Sansad Chalo’ march.

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Works on Mesh network

I4C says that this app is especially used for activities like riots, organized crime, terrorism, illegal gathering, spreading rumors and misleading information. It works on Mesh network, in which every device connects directly to other nearby devices and forwards the message. Neither mobile network nor internet is required to run this network. In such a situation, there are no regulatory restrictions on them.

Through Bluetooth, messages can be transmitted from one device to another over a distance of 10 to 100 meters. Many devices connect together and forward messages, due to which the range of the network increases. In such a situation, rumors are easily spread to thousands of people.

Rumors are being spread through this app in the ongoing CJP Protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi. The government had ordered internet shutdown in the areas around Jantar Mantar, so that rumors could not be spread. A petition challenging the order to shut down mobile internet around Jantar Mantar has also been filed in the Delhi High Court.

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