A workshop presented to the World Liberty Congress on using Bitchat for decentralized, censorship-resistant communication when the internet goes down and platforms get banned. Built around three goals: understanding what Bitchat is, judgment about when to use it, and field readiness before the next crisis hits.
Download Bitchat
Install Bitchat before a crisis — not during one. App stores can be blocked or pressured into removing apps once a shutdown starts.
- Android (Google Play): play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bitchat.droid
- iOS (App Store): apps.apple.com/us/app/bitchat-mesh
- Android APK from GitHub: github.com/permissionlesstech/bitchat-android
- Android via Zapstore: zapstore.dev/apps/com.bitchat.droid
What This Workshop Covers
Why This Matters Now
- Recent real-world shutdowns: Indonesia, Nepal, Madagascar, Uganda, Iran, China
- Bitchat hit 1.7 million downloads in days during Uganda's pre-election internet blackout
- Several of these are countries where the WLC is active or expanding
What Bitchat Is
- A peer-to-peer messaging app over Bluetooth mesh — no internet, no servers, no phone numbers, no accounts
- Two transports, one app: Bluetooth mesh offline, Nostr over Tor when online
- Open source, end-to-end encrypted, built by Jack Dorsey and contributors
What Bitchat Is NOT
- Not a Signal replacement for high-stakes 1:1 comms
- Not a silver bullet — metadata still leaks
- Not global by default — Bluetooth range is short
How It Works
- Each phone is both a sender and a relay — messages hop device to device, up to 7 hops
- ~30m per direct hop, ~300m claimed multi-hop range, 8 direct neighbors per phone
- Cryptographic keys generated on-device, Noise XX + AES-256-GCM, triple-tap panic wipe
Where It's Working (Real Deployments)
- Indonesia (Aug 2025): ~11,000 downloads during nationwide protests
- Nepal (Sept 2025): +1,400% in days after the government banned 26 platforms
- Madagascar (Sept 2025): 70,000 downloads in one week during Gen Z protests
- Uganda (Jan 2026): 1.7M+ downloads, #1 app during the election internet shutdown
- Iran & China (Jan–Apr 2026): Concurrent surge in Iran; Apple removed Bitchat from China App Store
Live Demo
- Install & First Launch — Open Google Play, install, grant permissions, land in #mesh
- Peer Discovery, DMs & Channels — Discover via Bluetooth, send encrypted DMs, lock channels with passwords, list and block peers
- Geohash + Panic Wipe — Location-scoped chats over Tor, triple-tap to wipe identity instantly
When Bitchat IS the Right Tool
- Election-day shutdowns (Uganda model)
- Dense protests or rallies where neighbors are reachable
- Internet blackouts during unrest
- Disaster or infrastructure failure
- Festival or event coordination in congested cells
When Bitchat Is the WRONG Tool
- Cross-border coordination (use Signal or Agora)
- Whistleblowing to media (use SecureDrop or Signal with disappearing messages)
- Long-term secure comms (Signal's protocol is more mature)
- High-value targets under active surveillance
- Unverified identities — MITM impersonation is possible without in-person QR verification
Pre-Shutdown Checklist
- Install Bitchat now, not when the shutdown starts
- Verify downloads from official Play Store, App Store, or signed APKs (GitHub Releases / Zapstore)
- Pre-add your team as favorites for offline sync
- Verify identities in person via QR codes
- Practice triple-tap panic wipe until it's muscle memory
- Distribute channel names + passwords physically, not by text
- Charge phones and disable battery optimization
Known Risks
- Metadata leaks even when content is encrypted
- MITM via weak identity authentication
- Static session keys — limited forward secrecy
- Fake APKs and phishing during blackouts
- App stores can comply with state takedowns
Who Should View This
- World Liberty Congress members and allied human-rights organizations
- Activists in countries at risk of internet shutdowns or platform bans
- Journalists and field workers operating in censored environments
- Anyone building digital-security stacks for crisis preparedness
- Developers and freedom-tech advocates working on mesh networking
Key Takeaways
- Install BEFORE a crisis — downloads spike during blackouts only because seeds were planted earlier
- Verify identities in person with QR codes
- Triple-tap = panic wipe
- Bitchat is one layer in a stack — not a silver bullet. Pair it with Signal, Tor, and good operational habits
Browse through the slides below or download the full PDF presentation.
