Brazil’s population of 200 million people plunged into a 48-hour WhatsApp blackout starting Thursday.
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In a statement on this week’s decision, Sao Paulo’s criminal court system said only that WhatsApp had been handed two prior judicial orders this year that the California-based company failed to heed.
A Brazilian phone-company association said it received the order to shut off WhatsApp text message and Internet voice telephone service across the country (Brazil) Wednesday afternoon. “Until today, Brazil has been an ally in creating an open internet”, said Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Technology companies often run into roadblocks in Brazil’s complicated legal system, where single judges have in the past tried to block Facebook, Google and other services for various reasons, such as failure to remove offensive posts or not handing over user information for investigations.
A court had ordered the service be frozen for failing to comply using a court order to supply information regarding a criminal court case to investigators.
If you’re in Brazil, you’ll have to do without WhatsApp for a few days.
The country’s congress – led by a former telecoms lobbyist – wants to bring in laws that would force Brazilian citizens to enter their tax identification, address and phone number to use websites and apps.
“This is a sad day for Brazil”. Tech companies like Facebook believe they’re protecting user privacy; they help when they’re required to.
Facebook purchased WhatsApp in a $19 billion transaction during 2014, adding to its kitty an application program, which is truly popular in budding zones such as India and Brazil.
Techcrunch reports that over 93% of the Internet users in Brazil – about 110 million people, use WhatsApp so as to avoid excess phone bills.
According to Band News TV, the criminal case involves a drug trafficker linked to one of Sao Paulo’s most unsafe criminal gangs, the PCC, or First Command of the Capital. Facebook’s press office was not immediately available for comment.
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Brazilian telecoms firms have regularly complained about lost revenue due to the popularity of free services like WhatsApp, and they did not oppose the ban.
