WhatsApp Says It's "Shocking" They Have Been Banned In Brazil Again
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A Brazilian court on Tuesday ordered yet another shutdown of the popular messaging app Whatsapp, shutting off service to more than 100 million people in the Latin American country.
Brazil's courts claim that WhatsApp has failed to cooperate in providing investigators with information relating to a criminal court case. This is the third time in a year that the service has been shut down in Brazil as part of this feud — both times have seen higher courts lift the bans put in place by lower courts.
In the latest decision, Judge Daniela Barbosa de Souza criticized WhatsApp's behavior, saying she was stunned by a request from the company that the court's decision be published in English, saying that meant that Facebook was "treating the country as a "banana republic.'"
Whatsapp spokesperson Anne Yeh told BuzzFeed News in an emailed statement: "We're working to get WhatsApp back online in Brazil. It's shocking that less than two months after Brazilian people and lawmakers loudly rejected blocks of services like WhatsApp, history is repeating itself. As before, millions of people are cut off from friends, loved ones, customers, and colleagues today, simply because we are being asked for information we don't have."
For now, the decision orders Brazil's telecommunications companies to block access to WhatsApp — the service will only be suspended once all telecoms operators have been notified. It also sets a fine of 50,000 Brazilian real (US $15278) per day for as long as Facebook does not comply with the court's request for information.
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