Whats App shuts down

Irate Brazilians found themselves without the popular WhatsApp smartphone messaging application for the second time in six months at the start of the week after a court blocked the service for 72 hours.

A flurry of angry commentary immediately broke out online after a small-town judge blocked WhatsApp nationwide because Facebook, its owner, failed to hand over information requested in a drug-trafficking investigation.

The court order from Judge Marcel Montalvao in the northeastern town of Lagarto, in Sergipe state, shut down WhatsApp.

According to Brazilian media reports, drug traffickers targeted in the investigation had been using WhatsApp to discuss their business.

It is the latest standoff between the Brazilian authorities and Facebook, which has said it has no technical means for cooperating with such requests.

Facebook’s vice-president for Latin America, Diego Dzodan, was arrested in March over the same case. Police said they were holding the Argentine national responsible for “repeated non-compliance with court orders”. Another judge in Sergipe state ordered his release the following day, ruling the arrest amounted to “unlawful coercion”.

WhatsApp was previously suspended in Brazil in December over another case. WhatsApp is widely used in Brazil, where cellphone fees for texting and calls are among the highest in the world.

The companies deny obstructing justice and say they have done whatever they can to help. A Facebook spokesperson in Brazil declined to comment. – Citizen reporter

WhatsApp is widely used in Brazil, where cellphone fees for texting and calls are among the highest in the world.