India has banned the VLC Media Player. Is there a Chinese connection?
VLC media player
Anyone who has ever used a PC, has definitely used the VLC Player at one point or the other. However, the popular video playing app is apparently now banned in India and a report suggests that the ban has been in place for around six months. Some believe that the app was banned along with 54 Chinese apps in February this year. Ironically, no one knows exactly why the app has been banned.
“Most major ISPs [internet service providers] are banning the site, with diverse techniques,” VideoLan president and lead developer Jean-Baptiste Kempf said of the blocking in India, in an email to TechCrunch.
Also Read |TikTok and other Chinese apps compile data
Kempf says the VLC website and the link to install it have been down in India since February 13. “We’ve asked the Indian government and we got no answer. We probably did not ask the right place though. I wish I knew how to ask properly,” Kempf wrote on Y Combinator-run Hacker News.
“The weirdest is that some ISPs are blocking it and some are not. So why is that the case? Are some ISP not listening to the government?” he added.
The VLC website, videolan.org, has been blocked by the government on Windows systems and you will get a message saying that "the site cannot be reached".
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
National Handloom Day 2026: From Alia Bhatt to Samantha Ruth Prabhu; Actresses who celebrated India's textile heritage as brides
)
The Royals enter the Doctor Who universe: King Charles and Queen Camilla beam into Commonwealth Games in TARDIS
)
Unitree Robotics targets $9 billion valuation in landmark IPO backed by DeepSeek and Tencent
)
India names 27 sites in Arunachal Pradesh
)
Bharat Bhhagya Viddhaata OTT: When will Kangana Ranaut's film stream online?
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
How many soldiers operate one S-400 battery?
)
Shakib Al Hasan ready to return to Bangladesh—under one condition
)
‘Fake news’: MEA rejects report claiming India sought defence pact with Israel after Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey deal
)
Rockstar to unveil GTA 6 extended look ahead of November launch
)
Russia forms Ukrainian Volunteer Spetsnaz Brigade to fight Ukraine
)
Drug-resistant fungus that hides in hair and enters bloodstream reported in 23 US states
)
Technology transfer deal boosts India's defence manufacturing ambitions
)
Border row erupts in Europe after Ceuta crossings, Spain imposes border controls on Italy
)
Morale plummets on USS Abraham Lincoln: Are US sailors reaching a breaking point? | GRAVITAS
)
'Security can't be bought with Pakistan, Turkey deal': Iran tells Saudi Arabia
)
Baba Vanga's 2026 prophecy: 2 predictions 'already came true', 3 terrifying ones remain. Details inside
)
Colombia’s new president Abelardo de la Espriella vows to ‘defeat narco-terrorists’, signals hardline shift
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
New Friday OTT releases (August 7, 2026): Operation Safed Sagar, Vadhandhi, Main Vaapis Aaunga- 6 movies and TV shows on Netflix, Prime Video and more
)
Squadron Leader Bhawana Kanth scripts history as Indian Air Force gets its first woman ‘Top Gun’ pilot
)
RSS says Gen Z protests reflect genuine distress
)
Trump says Iranian school bombing photos could be AI-generated - 'I don’t think...'
)
IAF officer held for sharing sensitive information in 'honey trap' case, booked under Official Secrets Act
)
Stray Kids under scrutiny? Fans react to Grammy submission silence after BTS boycott
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
Why the Su-30MKI doesn't need external fuel tanks to fly vast distances
)
Jugal Hansraj reunites with Shekhar Kapur after 40 years for Masoom: The Next Generation
)
New speed limits, automatic challans: Big traffic change coming to Delhi-Meerut Expressway. All you need to know
)
India officially names 27 places in Arunachal to counter China's renaming claims
)
Trump calls White House ballroom ruling a 'national disgrace' as court says Congress approval needed
)
US sanctions Iran’s crypto network after Strait of Hormuz attacks, offers $15m bounty for intel on IRGC finance
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
Why the Su-30MKI is one of the heaviest fighters ever built
)
Uttarakhand young innovator builds India's own flying vehicle, conducts first test flight: WATCH
)
Chilling video shows students take cover as teen opens fire at Thai school
)
Reese Witherspoon's father hospitalised after poolside incident in Nashville: Report
Is there a Chinese connection?
So the VLC app itself doesn't come from China and is an open source software from a France-based group. However, it has a Chinese connection though. Cicada, a hacking group that is allegedly backed by the Chinese government, uses VLC Media Player to deploy malicious malware. Symantec, a cyber security research firm says that it has found victims of the same in India, Canada, Israel and several other countries.
Kempf says the ban is purely a misunderstanding of the Chinese security issue. He also added a word of caution saying that the ban will push Indian citizens to “shady websites that are running hacked version of VLC. So they are endangering their own citizens with this ban".
Also Read |'Remove China Apps': Tool to delete Chinese apps from phone goes viral in India
Ironically, the mobile app has not been banned. The rationale behind is that since mobile apps are hosted on Google’s PlayStore and Apple’s App Store servers instead of the servers where the desktop versions are hosted, they have been termed safe. Also, users who already have the app on their desktops can continue to use it.
(With inputs from agencies)
