The official VLC media player website “www.videolan.org” was blocked nationwide in August by Indian authorities without a justification. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeiTY) in India have now received a legal notification from VideoLAN, the company that publishes the VLC video player.
With aid from the Internet Freedom Foundation, MeiTY received a Right to Information (RTI) request from VideoLAN following the ban (IFF). MeiTY responded by saying they don’t have any knowledge of the prohibition. IFF claims that VideoLAN was not given a heads-up or a chance to be heard. After that, VideoLAN has now delivered legal notice to these two governmental bodies.
It has been reported that the government forbade downloading VLC from the program’s official website because some cybersecurity experts claimed that a hacker group called Cicada, based in China, used VLC to distribute malware.
However, the government hasn’t given any information or justification for why the VLC website was blocked in the country. The Chinese government reportedly supported the strike. The hacker gang has developed a reputation for targeting NGOs over the years.
