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More than 48,000 Nepalese individuals downloaded Block CEO Jack Dorsey’s peer-to-peer communication application, bitchat, during a series of violent demonstrations concerning corruption and a brief social media prohibition earlier this week.
This followed a similar increase in downloads in Indonesia last week after protests related to corruption broke out, as reported by Bitcoin open-source developer “callebtc,” who is involved in bitchat’s development.
“Last week, we detected an unexpected surge in bitchat downloads from Indonesia amidst nationwide protests. Today we’re experiencing an even greater surge from Nepal during youth protests against government corruption and a social media ban,” callebtc shared on X on Wednesday.
Based on graphs provided by callebtc, Nepal received under 3,344 downloads last Wednesday before the count surged to 48,781 on Monday — over four times higher than the following country, Indonesia, which logged 11,324.
The rapid increase was driven by a brief social media prohibition — blocking Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and YouTube — sparking a youth-led protest that resulted in Nepal’s parliament and supreme court being set ablaze. The government initially enforced the ban to restrict the swift dissemination of anti-government content online.
Law enforcement reacted sharply with live ammunition and tear gas, leading to at least 19 fatalities, while hundreds sustained injuries. The governmental facility where Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli resided was also invaded.
Oli is at the focal point of the corruption accusations, which involve the abuse of public resources and inadequate transparency in political decision-making. He has now stepped down from his position.
The occurrences in Nepal and Indonesia may indicate a rising trend of citizens increasingly utilizing decentralized, encrypted messaging applications — or “freedom tech” — to safeguard themselves from governmental oversight or censorship.
Meanwhile, the European Union is nearing the approval of a “Chat Control” legislation which would suppress encrypted messaging, mandating services like Telegram, WhatsApp, and Signal to permit regulators to examine messages prior to encryption and transmission.
Legislators from 15 EU member states have expressed support for the bill, and a vote from Germany could determine whether the contentious legislation is enacted.
Crypto messaging apps provide an alternative
Up to this point, the adoption of decentralized, encrypted messaging applications has been propelled by users departing centralized communication platforms that may censor content or enforce other limitations.
Among the most widespread centralized communication platforms are Messenger and WhatsApp, which are managed by social media behemoth Meta, a central, profit-driven corporation that treats personal data as a commodity.
Dorsey’s bitchat is barely two months old
Dorsey introduced a beta for bitchat in July, which employs Bluetooth mesh networks for internet-free, encrypted communication.
Related: Decentralized social media application to challenge Big Tech’s ‘walled gardens’
According to the white paper, the network is completely decentralized with no central servers, accounts, email addresses, phone numbers for registration, or reliance on infrastructure.
Crypto messaging still significantly trailing behind industry giants
Signal, the Nostr-powered Damus, Session, and Status are among other messaging applications that have captivated users seeking more secure, censorship-resistant options.
Nonetheless, decentralized, encrypted messaging applications likely face a lengthy road before they can compete with social media titans like Meta, which recorded an astounding 3.48 billion average daily users across its range of applications — including Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram — in June.
This 3.48 billion figure represented a 6% year-on-year growth, suggesting that it hasn’t relented in momentum over the past year.
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