VLC media player, which had many users in India, is back after a nine-month long ban. VLC Media Player was banned in India in February 2022 due to its alleged links with Chinese hackers. Then the company’s website and download link were also blocked. With this, users were not able to download VLC media player.
But with the ban lifted, reports suggest that people are now rushing to download VLC media player. The Indian Ministry of Electronics and IT has lifted the ban on VLC media player’s website. The news of VLC MediaPlayer’s return was first reported by the Internet Freedom Foundation of India (IFF), which assisted the company in providing legal support to VLC over the ban.
Officials have informed that those who are still unable to access the VLC website should provide their ISP information. VLC has tweeted on its official Twitter account that the ban imposed on them in the country has been lifted. The news of the Center banning VLC media player, the most popular media player software and streaming media server developed by Videolan Project, came after two months. But neither the central government nor the company disclosed the reason for the ban.
According to reports, VLC media player has been banned in the country due to China-backed hacking group Cicada using the platform for cyber attacks. A few months ago, security experts discovered that Cicada was using VLC media player to deploy a malware loader as part of a long-running cyber attack campaign. In the background of this, the ban was spread.
Meanwhile, VLC Player apparently had no connection to China. VLC Player is developed by Paris-based Videolan. As the reason behind the ban was not clarified, the company had come forward against the government. The company has sent a notice to the Union IT Ministry and the Department of Telecom demanding that the Center ban VLC players from March without prior notification and explain the reason for this.
The company then sought the help of the Internet Freedom Foundation of India. This is what led to the ban. Previously, when visiting the company’s website, a 404 error message was displayed. But now the website is functional. Figures from the company’s website show that 73 lakh downloads (total) have been achieved so far.
VLC has been downloaded by lakhs of people before. The fact that it can play almost all types of files makes VLC Player a favorite media for people. The company claims that it used to get around 25 million downloads every year in India. In the meantime, the government ban came without any warning or notice.
It is estimated that the download of VLC media player will increase in the coming days after the ban has been lifted and it has become available. VLC media player is also unique in that it offers a lot of features. One of the most used video players in India right now is MX Player. But some MX Player versions did not support audio for some files. This often creates difficulties for people. The fact that such files can be played without any problems makes users rely more on VLC Player.