VLC Media Player’s India ban, but what is the reason?

The VLC Media player website is banned in India and the ban appears to have been in place since March this year. But what is the reason the website was banned?

VLC Media Player is one of the most popular apps when it comes to video streaming. Anyone who has used a PC in the 90s or early 2000s knows just how popular, the VLC media player was when it came to watching movies, and TV shows. However, it looks like the VLC Media player website is banned in India and the ban appears to have been in place since March this year, according to an earlier report by Medianama.

But what is the reason the website was banned? Well, an RTI (Right to Information) request filed by the Internet Freedom Foundation shows that no one knows what is the reason for the ban. The Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) tweeted that they filed the RTI in June with the department of telecom about the website being banned. DOT transferred the request to Meity or the Ministry of Electronics and Information and Technology. Meity’s response on July 14 was that “No information is available [with MeitY]”.

Check out IFF’s thread below

On June 07, 2022, we filed a Right to Information application with @DoT_India seeking information on the blocking of the website of VideoLAN[dot]org in India. DoT transferred it to @GoI_MeitY, which then responded on July 14 that “No information is available [with MeitY]” (1/4) https://t.co/usQHOmaJdW

— Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) (@internetfreedom) August 14, 2022

In our application, we sought information on the grounds on which videolan[dot]org has been blocked for access in India and whether any hearing opportunity was provided to the website owners before the website was blocked for access in India. (2/4)https://t.co/W0tLeiCrMO

— Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) (@internetfreedom) August 14, 2022

However, in their single-line response, @GoI_MeitY has simply stated that they do not have any such information. We have filed the first appeal on this response, arguing that it is illegal and demonstrates non-application of mind. (3/4)https://t.co/nz3KCtABBc

— Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) (@internetfreedom) August 14, 2022

According to IFF’s tweets, they “sought information on the grounds on which videolan[dot]org has been blocked for access in India and whether any hearing opportunity was provided to the website owners before the website was blocked for access in India.” However, all they got was a single-line response that Meity has no such information.

Source – India Express