Jack Dorsey’s decentralized peer-to-peer messaging app Bitchat has witnessed a surge in usage among Ugandans ahead of the crucial 2026 general elections.
Summary
- Bitchat related searches on Google have skyrocketed in Uganda in recent days.
- Opposition leader Bobi Wine has urged locals to use Bitchat to bypass possible internet outages.
According to GoogleTrends factssearch interest for “Bitchat” in Uganda has skyrocketed in recent days.
Popular search terms during the same period included ‘bitchat apk’, ‘bitchat mesh’, ‘what is bitchat’ and ‘how to use bitchat’. They were all marked as breakout topics, meaning Google recorded a significant increase in their search volume in a short period of time.
Bitchat is a decentralized messaging app that relies on Bluetooth mesh networking to enable secure, encrypted communication between nearby smartphones without the need for internet access.
Each phone on the network acts as a relay node and messages are stored on the devices themselves rather than on a server. Meanwhile, users do not need a phone number, SIM card or email address to use the app.
In recent months, Bitchat has found traction in jurisdictions grappling with political unrest and censorship, including Nepal, Madagascar and Indonesia, where protesters used the app to evade government surveillance and connectivity outages.
Bitchat became a talking point in Uganda after politician and opposition leader Bobi Wine began encouraging locals to install the app as a countermeasure to any attempt by the ruling government to cut off communications services in the run-up to the elections.
“As we all know, the regime is plotting an internet shutdown in the coming days, as they have done in all previous elections. They are turning off the internet to block communications and prevent citizens from organizing, verifying their election results and demanding accountability for the massive election theft,” Wine wrote in a December 30 X-post.
Wine is currently leading a challenge against former President Yoweri Museveni, whose government during the 2016 and 2021 elections blocked access to the Internet for five days from the eve of the vote.
Reports from December 2025 assign that the election commission and security agencies have again discussed a temporary shutdown to curb what they describe as disinformation, hate speech and sectarianism on social media platforms.
However, Wine argues that the real motive behind such measures is to prevent opposition supporters from sending declaration of results forms, which serve as the official record of vote counts from each polling station.
“You can send photos of DR forms and share other important information with specific or other users,” Wine added as he urged his supporters to download Bitchat.
According to facts Chrome Stats shows that Bitchat downloads have skyrocketed in the past week, with more than 32,000 new installs. In the last 24 hours alone, the app recorded 4,252 downloads.
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