Facebook and WhatsApp logos are displayed on portable electronic devices on Feb. 19, 2014 in San Francisco City. (Photo : Getty Images/Justin Sullivan)
A Brazil court in the northeastern state of Sergipe has ordered all mobile phone carriers in the country to block the WhatsApp for 72 hours following the failure of the popular messaging app to turn over data in a criminal investigation. This is the second such incident involving WhatsApp in South America's largest nation.
The court directive applies decision to the five major wireless operators in Brazil and has affected over 100 million WhatsApp users in the country. The court has, however, not disclosed the precise reason for the order owing to legal secrecy in a current case in the Sergipe state court, Reuters reported.
Meanwhile, WhatsApp has issued a statement saying that it is "disappointed at the decision," especially after doing its best to assist with Brazilian tribunals. According to WhatsApp, the decision of the Brazilian court is punishing over 100 million users who depend on the messaging app for communication, running their businesses as well as other purposes.
Brazil's National Telecommunications Agency president, Joao Rezende has also disapproved of the ban. The court order was "disproportionate" since users are punished, Latin Times quoted Rezende as saying. While WhatsApp must abide by all legal orders to the extent that its technical capabilities permit, blocking the service is not a solution to the problem, Rezende said.
While the statement described the court's directive as a move to force the company to turn over data, which it claimed did not exist with it; this is the second time since December that Brazilian courts have targeted text message and Internet voice telephone service for mobile phones.
On Dec. 15, a São Paulo state judge had directed Facebook to shut down its service for 48 hours when the social media giant failed to abide by an order. However, another court intervened into the matter and lifted the suspension 12 hours later.
In another instance in March, the federal police kept a Facebook executive in custody for failing to cooperate with court orders associated with data on the company's website in an investigation pertaining to trafficking.
Watch the video on "WhasApp blocked" below:
