Why has India moved to take down BitChat repositories?, Pg8

Key Highlights:

• The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), under the Ministry of Home Affairs, directed GitHub on July 23 to remove repositories hosting BitChat.
• BitChat is a Bluetooth mesh messaging application developed by X co-founder Jack Dorsey, designed for decentralised communication without internet.
• The directive cited concerns that BitChat could be exploited to coordinate unlawful assemblies and circumvent lawful restrictions during public order situations.
• The order was issued under Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, read with Rule 3(1)(d) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.

Detailed Insights:

• BitChat operates as a peer-to-peer network, where devices in physical proximity act as both clients and servers, relaying messages across multiple hops.
• The application claims to offer censorship resistance, surveillance resistance, and infrastructure independence, functioning during internet outages or protests.
• The government's order highlighted that BitChat enables anonymous communication without user registration or centralised logging, impeding lawful interception and investigation.
• It stated that the platform could be misused for evading surveillance, facilitating anonymous coordination, and committing cognizable offenses.
• The Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) criticised the order, arguing that anticipated misuse is not a lawful basis to prohibit a communication tool.
• IFF also contended that the order failed the proportionality standard established by the Supreme Court in Anuradha Bhasin v. Union of India (2020).
• Unlike Section 69A of the IT Act, which requires a hearing and written reasons for blocking, Section 79(3)(b) deals with intermediaries losing safe harbour protection.

Key Concepts Involved:

• BitChat: A decentralised, peer-to-peer messaging application that uses Bluetooth mesh networks, requiring no internet connection.
• Information Technology Act, 2000: India's primary law dealing with cybercrime, electronic commerce, and related matters.
• Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code Rules, 2021: Regulations governing social media intermediaries and digital news publishers in India.
• Safe Harbour Protection: Legal immunity granted to online intermediaries from liability for content posted by third-party users.
• Anuradha Bhasin v. Union of India (2020): A landmark Supreme Court judgment that affirmed internet access as a fundamental right and mandated proportionality for internet restrictions.