In August of this year, the government of India imposed a ban on the website of VLC Media Player, a popular streaming player. The ban was rumored to be due to its supposed Chinese ‘connection’, even though VLC is actually an open source software developed by a French group. However, the ban has now been lifted, as announced by the non-profit organization Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) on Twitter. The official Twitter account of VLC Media Player also confirmed the lifting of the ban.
VLC Media Player is widely used because it supports various audio and video compression methods and file formats, including DVD-Video, Video CD, and streaming protocols. The software allows users to stream media over a computer network and convert multimedia files. Its modular design makes it easy to incorporate new formats, codecs, interfaces, or streaming methods.
The reason behind the ban on VLC in India was reportedly due to a Chinese hacker group named Cicada that had used VLC to distribute malware. According to cyber-security researchers at Symantec, victims of the Cicada attack were found in several countries, including India, the US, Canada, Israel, and Hong Kong. The researchers discovered that the attackers used VLC Media Player to install malware on compromised devices and believe the attack is supported by the Chinese government.
The government of India did not officially provide a reason for banning VLC, and there is still no explanation given for the lifting of the ban.
In August, the ban on the VLC website, videolan.org, prevented Windows users from accessing it on their laptops and PCs. Attempting to open the VLC website resulted in a message stating ‘The site can’t be reached’. However, during the ban, VLC app continued to work on both iOS and Android devices, as the ban only affected the website.
