Jack Dorsey backs offline messaging app Bitchat as essential tool for protesters
A new messaging app backed by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey is gaining attention for its decentralised, offline capabilities designed to function during internet blackouts—features that have prompted some to call it a “protester’s secret weapon”.
Bitchat, developed by the crypto-focused company Keet, allows users to communicate without Wi-Fi, mobile data, or centralised infrastructure. Instead, the app relies on Bluetooth and peer-to-peer connections that messages simply jump from phone-to-phone, with no need for mobile towers or internet servers.
The service is ideal for demonstrations where large numbers of people gather, but where the authorities attempt decapitate protest movements by shutting down the internet and prevent demonstrators coordinating their actions, as the Islamic Republic recently did in the mass protests that broke out on December 28.
“No towers, no servers, no kill switch,” the company said in a promotional message.
The app has no login requirement, does not use SIM cards, and stores no data on centralised servers—attributes that make it particularly appealing for use in countries with authoritarian regimes, where data stored on a phone can lead to arrest and prosecution – and even execution in Iran.
“It’s ideal for places like Iran, where regimes love blackouts and protesters need a way to talk when the internet ‘suddenly disappears,’” Bitchat’s developers said in a statement published on January 17.
Bitchat is built on the same peer-to-peer technology as Keet, a video and chat application launched by the team behind Holepunch, a platform funded in part by Dorsey through his Bitcoin-focused company, TBD. Keet and Bitchat both use the Lightning Network and Holepunch’s distributed application protocol to allow users to connect directly without intermediaries.
Dorsey, a longtime proponent of decentralisation and censorship resistance, has previously criticised centralised social media and internet platforms for their vulnerability to government overreach and corporate control. His support for Bitchat aligns with a broader push among crypto and privacy advocates to build resilient tools for free communication.
The emergence of apps like Bitchat comes amid rising concern about the global trend of internet shutdowns. According to digital rights watchdog Access Now, authorities implemented at least 187 internet shutdowns in 35 countries in 2022, with Iran, India and Myanmar among the most frequent offenders.
“No logins. No SIM cards. No surveillance,” the company said in its launch announcement.
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