VideoLAN’s website— www.videolan.org— has been blocked in India by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology under the Information Technology Act, 2000. A quick glance at the website reveals a white screen dotted with the notice that the website has been blocked.
What is VLC: VLC media player is a free and open-source media player software and streaming media server. It is available on major operating systems like Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS.
Who is behind VLC: VideoLAN is a non-profit organisation which develops software that can play video and other media formats on various devices.
Is VLC Media Player blocked in India? https://t.co/IVN7SsNxOo
— Anupam Gupta (@b50) March 22, 2022
Why VLC is so popular: VLC Media Player is often considered to be one of the most popular media players according to TechRadar because it is:
- Available for free
- Supports nearly all file formats without the need to download additional codecs
- Optimises video and audio playback as per the device
- Offers streaming
- Extended with downloadable plugins which enable integration with other programs and streaming services
Since when has the website been blocked? It is difficult to ascertain the date but a quick perusal of social media tells you that the website has been down since March.
Availability on app stores: VLC’s mobile apps seem to be available for download on Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store.
Is the ban uniform? The ban does not seem to be uniform as it seems unavailable on mobile carrier networks such as Airtel, Vodafone, and Jio as well as some broadband services but available on other broadband services like Railwire.
Why it has been blocked: MeitY’s order does not elaborate on why the website was blocked and it is unlikely that the ministry will reveal why it moved to block the website. MediaNama has filed an RTI to understand the reason behind the blocking and will update this post once we get a response.
Has MeitY blocked websites before? A parliamentary response revealed that MeitY has blocked as many as 6,096 websites or URLs in 2021 in the Lok Sabha.
- It has blocked more than 9,000 websites in 2020, the response revealed.
- The response revealed that the total number of blocked URLs since 2015 stood at 20,14,471.
- MeitY did not specify why these URLs had been blocked by the ministry.
Why the government blocks URLs: The government explained that it issues these orders under section 69A of the IT Act, 2000. It laid down the following as reasons owing to which it can block URLs:
- Information impacting sovereignty and integrity of India
- Defence of India
- Security of the State
- Friendly relations with foreign states
- Public order
- Preventing incitement
It is difficult to imagine a media player to be in violation of any of the aforementioned factors.
Will we ever know why these websites are blocked? The Delhi High Court recently ordered MeitY to provide the blocking order for a website and a hearing to Tanul Thakur— a film critic.
In a big win for transparency against censorship, Delhi HC ordered MeitY to provide the ban order for his website & hearing to @Plebeian42.
This is the 1st time a censorship order will be disclosed & a hearing given to the censored subject! (1/5)https://t.co/JpP1QScInX
— Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) (@internetfreedom) May 16, 2022
- It is the first time a censorship order will be disclosed and a hearing given to the party which has been censored.
- The order may provide insight into how the system of censorship is run by the ministry, that’s largely been opaque.
Also Read:
- Why did MIB block 16 YouTube news channels?
- Govt blocked more than 16,000 websites between 2018-2020, but figures show inconsistency. Again.
- Social media platforms should suspend accounts only as last resort and not arbitrarily: MeitY in Delhi HC
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