The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) has ordered Apple to remove Bitchat, a decentralized messaging application developed by Block CEO Jack Dorsey, from the country’s App Store.
The measure, which will take effect from February 28, 2026, was confirmed by Dorsey via X publication on April 5 of this year, where he shared an official notification from the Apple review team. «Bitchat removed from Chinese app store” he wrote without further comment.
The CAC claimed that Bitchat violated Article 3 of the Regulation on the Security Evaluation of Internet Information Services with the Attribute of Public Opinion or Social Mobilization Capability (Regulation Mandating Services with the Capability of Influencing Public Opinion). undergo national security assessment prior to operation.
Along with its removal from the App Store, beta versions on TestFlight, the Apple platform that allows developers to distribute beta versions of their applications, will also be removed. Also disabled for users in China. The app continues to be available worldwide.
What makes Bitchat difficult for Chinese regulators to ignore is precisely its technical architecture. The application only works with Bluetooth and mesh networks It is designed to require no internet connection and cannot be blocked by traditional blackouts or type filters. firewall.
Proven tools in the field of censorship
This strategy has already produced concrete results in other countries. In January 2026, Iranian users turned to Bitchat during protestscommunications restrictions and widespread internet shutdowns.
According to Amnesty International, on January 8, Iranian authorities imposed an internet and communications blackout during the suppression of demonstrations that began on December 28, 2025, in the wake of a sharp devaluation of the currency and rising inflation. A similar pattern has been previously documented in Uganda, where the app was adopted during connectivity restrictions related to the electoral process.
The app has been downloaded over 3 million times in total, with over 92,000 downloads in the last week alone. Bitchat competes in the Chinese market with WeChatthe Tencent platform that concentrates 810 million users in the country.
The Chinese government’s decision fits into a known pattern. This means that the app has been flagged by regulators under rules governing services that have the ability to influence public opinion, and therefore is in direct tension with the internet censorship system operating in China.
