Apple has removed Bitchat from the Chinese App Store, following a request from the country’s Cyberspace Administration. Here are the details.
Bitchat enables anonymous, peer-to-peer communication
Last year, we covered the launch of Bitchat (then called bitchat mesh), a new messaging app developed by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, who’s currently the CEO of Block.
Since its release, Bitchat has become popular in countries facing internet shutdowns and social media blocks, including Uganda, Iran, and Nepal, where downloads reportedly spiked during protests and government restrictions on major platforms. 
Unlike traditional messaging apps, which rely on internet-connected servers, Bitchat uses Bluetooth-based peer-to-peer mesh networking.
As we explained last July, when the app officially launched:
Thanks to its privacy-first and decentralized approach, bitchat mesh has no servers, accounts, or user information and it doesn’t collect any data. That alone might be enough to raise a few regulatory eyebrows in a handful of countries, but let’s leave that for another time.
Almost nine months later, it seems that time has come.
As Dorsey noted on X, Apple has removed Bitchat from the App Store at the request of the CAC, the Cyberspace Administration of China.
According to Apple, the CAC alleged that the app was in breach of “Articles 3 of the Provisions on the Security Assessment of Internet-based Information Services with Attribute of Public Opinions or Capable of Social Mobilization,” which basically requires apps capable of influencing public opinion or mobilizing users to undergo a security assessment before being launched or updated.
Dorsey did not elaborate on what steps, if any, Bitchat will take to try to return to the Chinese App Store.
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