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The VLC media player, which was developed by the VideoLAN project, is one of the most popular media player software and streaming media servers. MediaNama reported that VLC Media Player was banned nearly two months ago in India. The software should still work with your device if you have it installed.
Neither the Indian government nor the company revealed any details of the ban. Shortly, the popular VLC Media Player is reportedly being banned in India across multiple platforms. It is no longer possible to download VLC Media Player’s exe file (windows executable file) for installation from the VLC Media Player website in India.
According to a tweet by Gagandeep Sapra, Indian users are not able to open the VLC Media Player website. It says, “The website has been blocked as per the order of Ministry of Electronics and Information technology under IT Act, 2000.”
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There is still a Google Play Store app for VLC Media Player (the Android app). Installing the app on Android phones can currently be done through the Google Play Store. No word has been given on whether the ban will also affect the popular mobile app.
Additional information
A website and download link for VLC Media Player is currently blocked in the country. The platform can no longer be accessed by anyone in the country for any purpose. Users with the software installed on their devices seem to encounter this issue.
In addition to ACTFibernet and Jio, Vodafone-idea, and others, it reported that VLC Media Player was banned on ALL major ISPs. A large number of Chinese apps were banned by the Indian government in 2020, including PUBG Mobile, TikTok, Camscanner, and others.
Recently, the Indian version of PUBG Mobile, dubbed BGMI, has also been banned on Google Play and Apple App stores in India. It feared that these platforms would send user data to China, and therefore blocked. Unlike many Chinese media players, VLC is not backed by a Chinese company. The program was developed by the Paris-based company VideoLAN.
What is the purpose of banning VLC Media Player?
VLC Media Player was previously banned in India for about five months, according to MediaNama. Users of the PC and Android versions of the popular program were probably unaware of the site’s shutdown as they already had the player installed.
No reason has been given for the shutdown of VLC Media Player by either the company or the government. The program was reportedly used to hack computers by China-backed hacking group Cicada, according to multiple reports.
As part of a larger cyberattack campaign, Cicada also deployed malicious code on target machines using VLC Media Player. The Indian government and the company did not officially announce the ban since it was a soft ban. There are still some Twitter users who are unaware of the platform’s restrictions.
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