BitChat

Syllabus: GS3/Science and Technology

Context

• The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) directed GitHub to remove repositories hosting BitChat, stating that the app could be exploited to coordinate unlawful assemblies and circumvent lawful restrictions imposed by competent authorities.

What is BitChat?

• BitChat is a decentralised peer-to-peer messaging application that operates over Bluetooth mesh networks. It requires no internet connection, no servers and no phone numbers.
  • It is developed by X (formerly Twitter) co-founder Jack Dorsey.
• BitChat creates ad hoc communication networks using only devices in physical proximity, with each device acting as both a client and a server, automatically discovering peers and relaying messages across multiple hops to extend the network’s reach.
  • According to the platform, this approach provides censorship resistance, surveillance resistance and infrastructure independence. 
  • The network remains functional during internet outages, natural disasters, protests or regions with limited connectivity.
• Traditional messaging apps depend on centralised infrastructure that can be monitored, censored or disabled. 

Legal Basis of the Order

• Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act, 2000: It provides that an intermediary may lose safe harbour protection if, after receiving lawful notice, it fails to remove unlawful material expeditiously.
• Rule 3(1)(d) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021: It requires intermediaries to remove unlawful information upon receiving lawful directions.

Supreme Court Judgments

• The Supreme Court in Shreya Singhal v. Union of India (2015) struck down Section 66A of the Information Technology Act and read down Section 79(3)(b) clarifying that intermediaries are obligated to remove content only when directed by a court or a government authority acting under due process.
  • The Court also held that speech on the internet enjoys the same constitutional protection as offline speech. 
  • It emphasised that vague laws have a chilling effect on free speech and violate Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution unless they satisfy the test of reasonable restrictions under Article 19(2).
• Anuradha Bhasin v. Union of India (2020): The Supreme Court held that restrictions on internet access must satisfy the test of proportionality, which is the territorial extent of the restriction, stage of the emergency, nature of the urgency, duration of the restrictive measure, and nature of the restriction.

Source: TH