Bitchat hits #2 on app charts in Jamaica as Hurricane Melissa strikes

Jamaicans have rushed to download Jack Dorsey’s decentralized peer-to-peer messaging app Bitchat as the fatal Hurricane Melissa continues to rip through the Caribbean.

Bitchat — which uses Bluetooth mesh networks for internet-free, encrypted communication — is now the second-most downloaded app on the App Store and Play in Jamaica, offering a lifeline for 2.8 million people as internet coverage continues to falter in the region. 

Bitchat only trails weather forecast platform Zoom Earth — indicating that two of Jamaican’s most basic needs right now are to know what the weather is, and to communicate with one another.

CNN on Wednesday that Hurricane Melissa has killed over 30 people in the Caribbean, including at least 23 in Haiti, while countless homes and businesses have been destroyed.

Until recently, adoption of decentralized, encrypted messaging apps has been driven by users leaving centralized communication platforms that may censor content or

However, Bitchat has since become a critical solution for people in countries where has been disrupted — whether due to government interference or natural disasters.

In September, Bitchat downloads rose in and a social media ban that blocked Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and YouTube, and triggered widespread protests. Downloads also rose in Indonesia a week earlier amid protests.

A similar incident later that month amid protests over ongoing water and power cuts.

The European Union has also been mulling the controversial “Chat Control” law, which would, forcing apps like Telegram, WhatsApp, and Signal to allow regulators to screen messages before they are encrypted and sent.

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The proposal, which aims to spot child abuse material, was moving closer toward passing in October before Germany expressed opposition to it, arguing that the scanning of private messages is unconstitutional. 

The vote has now been postponed, with another vote set for early December.

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