VLC Media Player Banned In India: VLC App Can Be Still Downloaded On Android, iOS; Here's Why It Has Been Banned

The VLC Media Player app has been banned in India even though the VLC media player app is still available for download on both the Google Play Store and Apple Apple App Store.

The VLC Media Player app has acknowledged the ban and said that the media player would only work on some ISPs

The free open-source and cross-platform VLC Media Player app has been banned in India even though the VLC media player app is still available for download on both the Google Play Store and Apple Apple App Store. The central government has blocked access to VLC Media Player's website “www.videolan.org”, the media has reported.

The VLC Media Player app has acknowledged the ban and said that the media player would only work on some Internet Service Providers (ISPs). ABP Live could confirm that the official VLC Media Player website www.videolan.org was not accessible in accordance with the ban at the time of writing the article. However, the VLC Media Player app was still available for download on the Google Play Store, thus, indicating that the government ban on the popular media player app hasn't been fully enforced.

Why VLC Media Play app has been banned in India

It should be noted that the government has not stated a reason behind banning the VLC Media Player app. However, according to a report, VLC download from the official website may have been banned due to some cybersecurity experts saying that a hacker group from China named Cicada used VLC Media Player to deliver malware on systems as part of a cyberattack campaign sponsored by the Chinese government.

The report adds that the hacking group Cicada may be spread across three continents and it aims to attack groups involved in political, legal, and religious activities, and non-government organisations (NGOs).

Reports suggest that the app was banned roughly five months ago in the wake of suspicious behaviour, but the mild restriction may have gone unnoticed since the programme was accessible through both Google Play Store and the Apple App Store. Major ISPs such as Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone-Idea in India have blocked access to the VLC website, however, users can still access the website on their mobile devices or laptops using VPN services.