Offline by Design: Why Ugandan Activists Are Turning to Bitchat

[bcd8b07f7c]

Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine is urging supporters to download Bitchat, a peer-to-peer messaging service created by Jack Dorsey, ahead of Uganda’s January 2026 presidential election. Wine claims authorities may shut down internet and social media access, a tactic used during past elections to disrupt communication and coordination.

Bitchat is designed to function without the internet, relying instead on encrypted Bluetooth mesh networks. With no central servers, phone numbers, or user accounts, it allows messages to hop from device to device — a structure that makes it difficult to censor. For activists, that design is not a feature but a necessity.

[kevin1]

governments shutting down the internet and ppl just routing around it anyway is kinda inevitable