Overview
- Uganda Communications Commission chief Nyombi Thembo said regulators have the technical ability to make the app “not work” before next week’s vote.
- The developer known as Calle rejected that claim and reported hundreds of thousands of Ugandan installs, roughly 1% of the population, without independent verification.
- Government officials said no decision has been made to impose an internet shutdown, even as authorities maintain Bitchat could be blocked.
- Bitchat operates over encrypted Bluetooth mesh with no central servers or accounts, a structure that supporters argue resists conventional network-level blocking.
- Uganda’s 2016 and 2021 election-period blackouts frame current concerns, while Starlink remains suspended in the country, limiting satellite workarounds.