Bitchat searches, downloads spike in Madagascar amid protests

Block CEO Jack Dorsey’s decentralized peer-to-peer messaging service Bitchat has seen a spike in downloads from the African island nation of Madagascar amid protests, following the same uptick throughout unrest in Nepal and Indonesia earlier in September.

A Bitcoin open-source developer beneath the X deal with callebtc, who’s engaged on the messaging service, mentioned on Sunday, “Bitchat downloads spiking in Madagascar,” together with screenshots of the protest’s information protection.

“Bitchat” trending in Google searches

Callebtc Bitcoin didn’t share particular obtain numbers, however Google Traits seek for “Bitchat” exhibits a spike from 0 to 100 on Friday (over 90 days) in Madagascar, particularly Antananarivo.

Google Traits tracks how in style a search time period is over a particular time period, with 100 being the best, and exhibiting “peak recognition,” and 0 exhibiting low curiosity, or “not sufficient knowledge.”

On the similar time, phrases as “Bitchat obtain”  and “easy methods to use Bitchat” had been among the many prime 5 associated queries, and tagged as “breakout matters,” which suggests they’d a “super enhance” in exercise, based on Google.

Chrome-Stats present Bitchat has been downloaded 365,307 instances since its launch, with over 21,000 coming within the final day and greater than 71,000 within the final week. Nevertheless, it doesn’t specify which areas had been answerable for the majority of downloads.

Protests over energy and water cuts

Protests erupted in Madagascar’s capital, Antananarivo, on Thursday, with some demonstrators clashing with police and studies of looting over ongoing water and energy cuts, ensuing within the vitality minister being sacked.

Authorities in Madagascar additionally imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew to stifle additional unrest. Extra demonstrations had been held on Friday and Saturday throughout the nation.

It comes solely weeks after a spike in Bitchat downloads in Nepal amid a collection of violent protests over corruption, which resulted in a short-lived social media ban and protestors pressured to seek for different methods to speak and coordinate. Indonesia additionally had the same uptick in downloads after corruption-related protests erupted. 

Most of Madagascar’s inhabitants doesn’t have entry to the web

Madagascar is likely one of the poorest international locations on this planet. Out of a inhabitants of slightly below 32 million, the worldwide expertise knowledge platform DataReportal estimates that there have been solely 6.6 million individuals in Madagascar who had entry to the web at first of 2025.

The platform additionally estimates there have been over 18 million cell connections energetic within the nation in early 2025 and famous that “a few of these connections could solely embody providers akin to voice and SMS, and a few could not embody entry to the web.”

Associated: Decentralized social media app to problem Huge Tech’s ‘walled gardens’

Dorsey launched a beta for Bitchat in July. It makes use of Bluetooth mesh networks for internet-free, encrypted communication, and based on the white paper, the community is totally decentralized with no central servers, accounts, electronic mail addresses, cellphone numbers to register, or infrastructure dependencies.

Encrypted messaging providers face Chat Management legislation in EU

The European Union is within the technique of cracking down on non-public messaging providers. Lawmakers try to cross a “Chat Management” legislation, which might undermine encrypted messaging, requiring providers akin to Telegram, WhatsApp and Sign to permit regulators to display screen messages earlier than they’re encrypted and despatched.