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.