Quick Infos:
- Download Surge: BitChat is currently the #1 ranked app on both the Apple App Store and Google Play in Uganda. Data indicates over 400,000 local users have installed the app since the start of January.
- Opposition Endorsement: The spike coincides with calls from opposition leader Bobi Wine, who urged supporters to adopt the decentralized tool to maintain communication channels and organize during the polling period.
- Government Pushback: UCC Executive Director Nyombi Thembo dismissed the app’s efficacy earlier this week, claiming the regulator possesses the technical capability to disable it. BitChat developers have refuted this, noting the protocol’s peer-to-peer nature requires no central servers to function.
Decentralized messaging app BitChat has surged to the top of app store charts in Uganda following a government-ordered nationwide internet blackout ahead of Thursday’s general election.
The Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) implemented the shutdown on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. local time, citing the need to curb “misinformation” and “incitement to violence.” In response, citizens have flocked to BitChat, a Bluetooth-based mesh networking tool that allows users to communicate without an internet connection or cellular data.
This marks the third consecutive presidential election in which the Ugandan government has severed internet access, following similar blockades in 2016 and 2021. BitChat has seen comparable adoption spikes recently in Nepal and Madagascar during periods of civil unrest and connectivity restrictions.