Jack Dorsey is always innovating in the field of decentralized technologies, but the new platform he has developed is encountering trouble in a country with a massive market potential.
Apple has pulled Jack Dorsey’s Bitchat from the App Store in China at the direct request of Beijing’s regulators, highlighting the tensions between open communication tools and strict internet controls.
In a recent post on X, Jack Dorsey shared a screenshot from Apple’s app review team. The message informed him that Bitchat was removed from the China App Store back in February, and even the TestFlight beta version would no longer be available there.
“Bitchat pulled from the China App Store,” he simply said, letting the image speak for itself. This move came at the insistence of the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), which cited violations of local internet service rules.
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What is Bitchat, invented by Jack Dorsey?
Bitchat is unique because it is a peer-to-peer chat application that operates independently from centralized servers, phone numbers, and even an internet connection. Instead, it uses Bluetooth and mesh technology.
The devices are directly connected to one another, passing messages via nearby mobile phones on a hop-by-hop basis. It will be very robust in areas where the government tries to prevent its citizens from accessing the internet. There is no central authority that oversees the messaging service, and all data is encrypted.
That independence is precisely why Bitchat gained traction during protests in countries like Madagascar, Uganda, Nepal, Indonesia, and Iran. When authorities cut off social media, messaging platforms, or even broader internet access to quiet dissent, people turned to tools that didn’t need those connections.
Jack Dorsey’s creation allowed protesters and citizens to stay in touch locally, even as official channels went dark. In Uganda, for instance, downloads spiked ahead of elections as opposition voices encouraged its use. Similar surges happened in Iran during periods of unrest. The app’s ability to function offline turned it into a practical lifeline when conventional options failed.
The CAC argued that Bitchat violated Article 3 of regulations introduced in 2018. These rules target online services with “public opinion properties” or the “capacity for social mobilization.” Any app or platform that could shape discussions or help organize groups must undergo a security assessment before launching and take full responsibility for the outcomes.
Chinese authorities view Bitchat’s mesh network capabilities as fitting this category, even though it doesn’t operate like a standard internet-based service. Apple’s review team reminded developers that all apps in their store must follow local laws in every country where they’re offered. They added that it’s the developer’s job to understand and comply with those requirements, not just Apple’s guidelines.
Jack Dorsey, known for his long-standing advocacy of open protocols and resistance to centralized control, built Bitchat with a clear philosophy in mind. As the CEO of Block and co-founder of Twitter (now X), he has repeatedly championed technologies that put power back in the hands of individuals rather than corporations or governments.
Bitchat is an example of such systems as well because it does not require any registration or accounts, and there is no server to attack since all communication happens peer-to-peer in ad hoc networks.
Despite the removal in China, Bitchat remains fully available in other countries. Download numbers tell a story of steady interest. Across platforms, the app has seen more than three million downloads total, including over 92,000 in just the past week, according to some tracking sources.
The Google Play Store alone shows more than one million registered downloads. Although regional statistics are not released, this growth is consistent with increased use in regions where connectivity issues exist.
For example, the widely used WeChat application in China, which is run by the government, reportedly has around 810 million users in a nation that has more than 1.4 billion people.
Similarly, in tightly regulated environments, tools like Jack Dorsey’s Bitchat challenge the status quo by design.
They avoid traditional chokepoints, whether they be internet gateways, approval processes for app stores, or centralized server management. For those who find themselves operating in environments where freedom is restricted, that autonomy can be liberating. For authorities wary of unrestricted communication, it is an additional problem to solve.
Jack Dorsey has not issued a lengthy statement beyond sharing the Apple notice, but his track record suggests he sees such pushback as part of the territory. Earlier projects and investments from him often emphasize permissionless systems, whether in finance through Block or in social media via protocols like Nostr.
Bitchat extends that thinking into everyday communication, aiming for resilience even when infrastructure is disrupted by accident, outage, or intent.
In terms of technical underpinnings, it utilizes the Bluetooth Low Energy mesh network. The phones identify themselves automatically, make a connection, and exchange messages across several nodes in order to reach farther participants.
It guarantees privacy via encryption, and the absence of servers means there is no central node that could be seized by the authorities. In theory, this works only in more densely populated places where there are enough phones running the application for establishing communication channels.
The creators of the application have good grounds to anticipate such a proposal from China, taking into account how the country is known to control internet narratives. Those who support strict regulation will say that any tool that allows organizing mass actions should be regulated for security purposes.
This creates a paradoxical situation because while censorship avoidance works in one sense, there is no control on the other side. Nevertheless, being a platform owner, Apple met the demands of the local authorities without removing the app from other platforms.
Bitchat’s impact on uncensorable communication
As Jack Dorsey’s Bitchat continues developing, being banned from the China App Store may actually emphasize its key selling point for global users seeking unfiltered communication.
Jack Dorsey’s commitment stays centered on creating platforms that benefit individuals on the ground, without regard for top-level limitations. From protests to even common experiences where disasters occur leading to the unavailability of cellular phone communication, the advantages of a decentralized messenger are quite evident.
It will be right to conclude by noting that this is another case of the conflict that exists globally in regard to centralization vs. decentralization. An example of this is BitChant, developed by Jack Dorsey.
