Blocked in April, IT Ministry lifts VLC Media Player ban

The Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) has lifted the ban on the website of VLC Media Player, nearly nine months after first issuing directions to block the website of VideoLAN, the non-profit that operates VLC Media Player and from where the application can be downloaded.

In October, MeitY had sent a letter to VideoLAN detailing the reasons behind blocking its website in the country, saying that the site was censored for allegedly communicating with servers of a previously banned app, called Onmyoji Arena, which was transferring sensitive personal data of Indians to a “hostile country”, The Indian Express had first reported. MeitY’s letter had come after VideoLAN, with assistance from the Delhi-based digital rights group Internet Freedom Foundation,