BitChat: Мессенджер как инструмент протеста в Непале и Индонезии Translation: BitChat: Messenger as a Tool of Protest in Nepal and Indonesia

On September 8, protests erupted in Nepal’s capital against the current government. Labeled as «Generation Z protests,» these demonstrations were triggered by a ban on 26 popular social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and YouTube. This restriction served as a significant catalyst for the growing discontent towards officials suspected of corruption.

The violent confrontation with law enforcement lasted nearly two days, during which police used weapons against the populace, leading to the destruction of government buildings and widespread arson. By the time of writing, the death toll had risen to 30, with over 1,000 individuals injured.

On September 9, Prime Minister Khadka Prasad Sharma Oli, who found himself at the center of corruption allegations, resigned, and the social media restrictions were lifted. The military expressed support for the citizens and sought to engage in dialogue with the protesters to stabilize the situation.

On September 11, around 1 PM local time, posts in the Reddit thread r/Nepal began reporting a decrease in tensions in Kathmandu and a normalization of daily life.

On the first day of the protests, Nepalese citizens formed a large organized mesh network. Cut off from their usual social media channels amid the unrest, they turned to an alternative method of communication—a Bluetooth messenger called BitChat. This was reported on September 10 by one of the app’s developers known as calle.

On September 8, downloads of anonymous software in Nepal reached 48,781, compared to only about 3,344 downloads the previous week.

BitChat, created by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, was launched in July. This free application, built on mesh network technology, allows encrypted communication without the need for internet access, account creation, or phone verification. According to its white paper, BitChat operates via the Bluetooth Low Energy protocol.

Each device acts as a node, enabling message transmission over distances up to 300 meters. A key feature of the messenger is privacy. Its Panic Mode instantly deletes all data with a triple press of the logo.

According to Google Trends, search queries worldwide for «bitchat download» reflected heightened interest in the app around the time of the large-scale protests. The first peak occurred on August 21, followed by the second on September 8.

Materials provided by calle indicated that on September 3, Indonesia experienced an unusual spike in BitChat downloads, reaching 11,324.

Similar to the situation in Nepal, the catalyst was public outrage. Protests began in Jakarta on August 25 and spread to multiple cities where demonstrators demanded the cancellation of recently announced high housing allowances for parliament members and sought salary increases for ordinary citizens.

On September 1, the government made concessions by canceling the perks and expensive overseas trips for MPs. The death toll from violent clashes amounted to six, and the total number of arrests across Indonesia reached 3,195.

«Last week, we observed a sudden surge in BitChat downloads from Indonesia during the nationwide protests. Today we see an even larger increase from Nepal amid youth protests against government corruption and the social media ban,» calle noted in a post.

Russia topped the download charts provided by the developer. The number of downloads from Russia surged noticeably from September 3 to September 8, increasing from 7,519 to 8,749. The top places also included the USA and India.

To recall, in June Elon Musk announced the upcoming launch of the XChat messenger «with encryption, disappearing messages, and the ability to send any files.» The app faced criticism.