Though it was not designed with the purpose in mind, FireChat was used as a communication tool in some civil protests.[2]
FireChat is now discontinued. The official URL displays a 404 error page, and apps have not been updated since 2018.
History
The app was first introduced in March 2014 for iPhones,[3] followed on April 3 by a version for Android devices.[4]
In July 2015, FireChat introduced private messaging. Until then, it had only been possible to post messages to public chatrooms.[5]
In May 2016, FireChat introduced FireChat Alerts, which allowed users to "push" alerts during a specific time and in a specific place.[6] This feature was added for the benefit of aid workers doing disaster relief and stemmed from a partnership with the city of Marikina.[7]
Usage
FireChat became popular in 2014 in Iraq following government restrictions on internet use,[8][9] and thereafter during the 2014 Hong Kong protests.[10][2] In 2015, FireChat was also promoted by protesters during the 2015 Ecuadorian protests.[11] On September 11, 2015, during the pro-independence demonstration called Free Way to the Catalan Republic, FireChat was used 131,000 times.[12] In January 2016, students protested at the University of Hyderabad, India, following the suicide of a PhD student named Rohith Vemula.[13] Some students were reported to have used Firechat after the university shut down its Wi-Fi.[14]
Security
In June 2014, Firechat's developers told Wired that "[p]eople need to understand that this is not a tool to communicate anything that would put them in a harmful situation if it were to be discovered by somebody who's hostile ... It was not meant for secure or private communications."[15] By July 2015, the FireChat developers claimed to have added end-to-end encryption for its one-to-one private messages.[5]
