Jack Dorsey’s Bitchat Explodes in Nepal and Indonesia as Protest Crackdowns Intensify
When governments clamp down, decentralized messaging surges—Jack Dorsey's BitChat just became the latest proof.
Nepal and Indonesia Lead Adoption
As authorities tightened controls on traditional communication channels during recent unrest, citizens flocked to censorship-resistant alternatives. BitChat's user base in both countries skyrocketed—no central servers to shut down, no single point of failure.
Finance's Reluctant Embrace
Meanwhile, Wall Street analysts still can't decide if decentralized tech is a 'hedge against tyranny' or just another asset to pump and dump—though they'll happily collect fees either way.
Protocol Over Platform
Dorsey's bet on unstoppable communication is paying off. While traditional social media giants grapple with regulatory pressure, BitChat simply bypasses it—another reminder that code doesn't negotiate.
Decentralized apps as protest tools
Observers say decentralized apps offered a measure of autonomy at a time when confidence in authorities have faltered.
"Decentralized and censorship-resistant messaging applications will see an explosion in adoption,” Christian Ruz, account director at crypto-native agency Hype, told Decrypt.
Governments are “becoming more authoritative as the current tools allow them to restrict access, content, communications, and even shut down the Internet if they want to,” he said.
Ruz points to a broader “authoritarian system that didn't do anything for decades” that has pushed people to “an era where government powers extend too far into daily society.”
Applications like Bitchat are “helping young people change their society, demand better living conditions, more economic opportunities, and stop corruption on a large scale,” he said, adding that decentralized apps like it could “challenge the status quo and help the people protest for better human conditions.”
Nepal, Indonesia and beyond
In Indonesia, protests erupted in late August after lawmakers approved steep allowances for themselves. Tensions escalated when a 21-year-old rideshare driver, Affan Kurniawan, was killed by a police armored vehicle during demonstrations.
President Prabowo Subianto condemned the response as “excessive,” but anger had already spread nationwide. Days later, on September 8, the country’s Finance Minister was relieved from her office with only an hour’s notice, per a Reuters report.
Concerns over digital repression during the protests, including surveillance, online harassment, and takedowns were raised by the Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Network in a public statement. About 11,000 Indonesians turned to Bitchat as the repression unfurled, per callebtc’s data.
“Indonesians in lower to mid income range face difficulties and struggle in terms of the economic condition,” Wan Iqbal, a former director at Indonesia’s top crypto exchange, told Decrypt at the onset of the protests.
Asked about the reasons behind the protests, Iqbal said that Indonesians had hoped “the government can help in terms of initiative and policy that can support them, but because many recent policies are facing backlash from a larger audience, they felt no empathy."
