{"id":25116,"date":"2026-04-06T05:47:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T05:47:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/jack-dorseys-bitchat-removed-from-apple-app-store-in-china-over-violations\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T05:47:25","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T05:47:25","slug":"jack-dorseys-bitchat-removed-from-apple-app-store-in-china-over-violations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/jack-dorseys-bitchat-removed-from-apple-app-store-in-china-over-violations\/","title":{"rendered":"Jack Dorsey\u2019s Bitchat removed from Apple App Store in China over violations"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-detail__content blocks\">\n<p>Jack Dorsey developed decentralized messaging app Bitchat has been taken down from Apple\u2019s App Store in China after it violated the country\u2019s internet service regulations.<\/p>\n<div id=\"cn-block-summary-block_173e2b9eddbcaf3855353814e8ecdca4\" class=\"cn-block-summary\">\n<div class=\"cn-block-summary__nav tabs\">\n        <span class=\"tabs__item is-selected\">Summary<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n<div class=\"cn-block-summary__content\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Bitchat was removed from Apple\u2019s China App Store after regulators flagged it under rules governing apps that can influence public opinion.<\/li>\n<li>The decentralized messaging app remains available globally and continues to see rising downloads, with over three million installs recorded.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- .cn-block-summary --><\/p>\n<p>On Sunday, Dorsey <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/jack\/status\/2040924565111537983?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">confirmed<\/a> that Bitchat was removed from the App Store in February, according to a message from Apple\u2019s app review team issued at the request of the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC).<\/p>\n<p>The CAC has stated that Bitchat violated Article 3 of its regulations, a provision covering online services with public opinion or social mobilization capabilities that came into force in 2018. As part of this framework, any such services would have to undergo a security assessment before launch and be responsible for the outcome.<\/p>\n<p>    <!-- .cn-block-related-link --><\/p>\n<p>According to Apple, all apps must comply with local requirements in the countries where they are available.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe know this stuff is complicated, but it is your responsibility to understand and make sure your app conforms with all local laws, not just the guidelines below,\u201d the Apple review team said, adding that apps promoting or encouraging \u201ccriminal or reckless behavior\u201d would be rejected.<\/p>\n<p>The latest disruption only impacts China, and Bitchat remains available across other countries globally.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Bitchat thrives against censorship<\/h2>\n<p>Bitchat has gained attention during periods of political unrest as the app\u2019s decentralized nature allows communication even during internet shutdowns. This also puts it at odds with China\u2019s tightly controlled internet censorship regime.<\/p>\n<p>Data from Chrome download statistics shows that the app has been downloaded more than three million times, with weekly downloads reaching over 92,000.<\/p>\n<p>As previously reported by crypto.news, Bitchat downloads surged in Uganda as locals turned to the app during election-related internet shutdowns. At the time, Nyombi Thembo said authorities had the technical capacity to shut it down.<\/p>\n<p>However, adoption continued to rise, especially as the app was promoted by opposition candidate Bobi Wine as a way to bypass connectivity restrictions.<\/p>\n<p>    <!-- .cn-block-related-link --><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jack Dorsey developed decentralized messaging app Bitchat has been taken down from Apple\u2019s App Store in China after it violated the country\u2019s internet service regulations. Summary Bitchat was removed from&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25117,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cryptocurrency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25116"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25116\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25118,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25116\/revisions\/25118"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}