Jack Dorsey’s messaging app Bitchat is being downloaded en masse in Madagascar.

During violent protests in Madagascar over water and electricity shortages that forced authorities to impose a curfew, Jack Dorsey’s decentralized messaging app Bitchat saw a surge in downloads.

Google Trends data shows that searches for «Bitchat» in the capital Antananarivo skyrocketed from zero to 100 as protesters searched for ways to communicate unimpeded.

Google Trends data

The peer-to-peer app works offline using Bluetooth Low Energy mesh networks and allows for encrypted messaging between devices within a 30-meter radius.

According to Chrome-Stats, Bitchat has been downloaded 365,307 times since its launch, including more than 21,000 in the last day and more than 71,000 in the last week.

75% of Madagascar’s 30 million people live below the poverty line, and only 6,6 million citizens have access to the internet.

World media coverage of events in Madagascar

Bitchat’s surge in popularity in Madagascar mirrors the recent protests in Nepal and Indonesia. In Nepal, protesters downloaded the app 48,781 times, while in Indonesia, 12,581 downloads were recorded.

Jack Dorsey launched the beta version Bitchat in July 2025, and TestFlight downloads surpassed 10,000 in just a few hours.

Interestingly, Russia accounts for 8749 installations, while the US registered 8211 users during the same period.

Source