[Marxistindia] Condemn Unconstitutional and Authoritarian Blocking of BitChat

[news from the cpi(m)]

July 25, 2026

 

Press Statement

 

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the
following statement:

 

Condemn Unconstitutional and Authoritarian Blocking of BitChat

 

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) strongly condemns
the BJP government's unconstitutional and authoritarian decision to block
the open-source messaging application BitChat. This action marks yet another
dangerous escalation in the government's assault on democratic rights,
freedom of expression and the right of citizens to peacefully organise and
communicate.

 

What is particularly alarming is that no official notification or public
order was issued by the Government of India. The country came to know of
this censorship only through a public post by Jack Dorsey, whose team
develops BitChat. Such secretive censorship, carried out without
transparency or public accountability, is wholly incompatible with the norms
of a constitutional democracy.

 

The reported order issued by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre
(I4C) under the Ministry of Home Affairs reportedly directed GitHub to
disable access to BitChat repositories within hours while threatening the
platform with punitive consequences. The government's objection is not to
any identified unlawful content, but to the very existence of a
communication tool that allows people to remain connected even during
internet shutdowns. This exposes the real objective behind the move: to deny
citizens the ability to communicate whenever the government chooses to
suspend internet services.

 

This action cannot be viewed in isolation. It comes amid the continuing
repression of thousands of students and young people who have been
peacefully protesting at Jantar Mantar, demanding accountability for
examination irregularities and justice for affected students. Internet
services have repeatedly been suspended in the area, metro stations have
been closed, barricades erected and peaceful protesters subjected to police
repression. The attempt to suppress communication itself is a continuation
of these authoritarian measures aimed at crushing democratic dissent.

 

The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that restrictions on speech and
internet access must satisfy the tests of legality, necessity and
proportionality. Resorting to opaque executive orders to block open-source
software, without transparency or due process, violates these constitutional
principles and further undermines the rule of law.

 

The Polit Bureau demands the immediate withdrawal of the order blocking
BitChat, restoration of unrestricted internet connectivity wherever it has
been arbitrarily suspended, publication of all such censorship and internet
shutdown orders, and an end to the systematic repression of students and
youth exercising their democratic right to peaceful protest.

 

The CPI(M) stands firmly with the students, youth and all democratic forces
resisting these authoritarian measures. Peaceful protest, free communication
and the right to organise are fundamental democratic rights guaranteed by
the Constitution. No government has the authority to extinguish these rights
through secrecy, censorship and coercion.

 

 

(Muralidhran)

For CPI(M) Central Committee Office

 

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