JACK DORSEY HAS JUST CREATED A PROBLEM FOR EVERY DICTATOR IN THE WORLD

Another test is in 7 days.

In Uganda. The country goes to the polls on the 15th.

Museveni has ruled since 1986. In every election, he cuts off the internet. Literally every time.

→ 2016: total blackout

→ 2021: 4 days offline during voting

The opposition can't coordinate, verify votes, or document anything

Then came Bitchat.

400,000 Ugandans downloaded the app in one week.

1% of the population.

The app uses Bluetooth mesh. Messages jump from phone to phone. No internet. No server. No tower.

The telecom regulator went on TV saying there's "the highest concentration of software engineers in the country" to block the app.

The developer replied on X:

"You can't stop Bitchat. You can't stop us. Free and open source. Unstoppable."

He's technically correct.

To block Bitchat, the government would have to turn off Bluetooth on every phone in the country. Or confiscate devices. Or prohibit Ugandans from being within 100 meters of each other.

The regime ordered Starlink to suspend operations. Control of satellites. Control of fiber. Control of towers.

None of these control Bluetooth.

40 years of investment in censorship.

Defeated by short-range radio waves that have existed since 1994.

And Bitchat still sends Bitcoin transactions offline.

Bobi Wine, opposition leader, urged the population to download before the blackout. This time, they're going dark armed.

January 15.

If Bitchat defeats Museveni, every dictator in the world wakes up with a new problem.