Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)’s WhatsApp services were supposed to be suspended in Brazil for 48 hours following an order from a lower court.
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You might notice that WhatsApp has started trending across social media – and that’s because the messaging service has been temporarily blocked by the Brazilian government, Digital Spy reports.
He added that he was stunned with how their effort to protect user information would lead to the punishment of WhatsApp users in Brazil.
The Facebook and WhatsApp app icons are displayed on an iPhone on February 19, 2014 in San Francisco City. The app that is used by over 90 million people in Brazil – and same percentage of internet users – was quickly unblocked. “Brazilians have always been among the most passionate in sharing their voice online”, Zuckerberg wrote.
For months they have complained about WhatsApp, saying that they lose revenue because clients use its free services instead of using the phone companies’ own text messaging. However, the judge recommended a higher fine on the United States firm.
SimilarWeb, an internet intelligence and marketing company, estimates that WhatsApp is installed on 92.5% of Android devices in Brazil, which makes it the most installed app in the country.
“This is insane. It’s ruining my “secret Santa” party!”‘ said Caroline Largueza, as she furiously tapped away on her smartphone in a Rio de Janeiro mall.
“Without WhatsApp it’s extremely hard to communicate with anybody, ” she complained. WhatsApp said that it is willing to provide the information, but is unable to do so. Today it is taking a long time. We will update the post when we hear back.
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The block happened as Brazil’s largest telecoms companies lobbied against WhatsApp as the telcos were losing a sizable chunk of revenues to the free messaging service.
