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Brazilian Judge Shuts Down WhatsApp In Brazil

Posted by timothy on from the government-assistance dept.

New submitter rafaelj writes: Apparently, Tim Berners Lee was not aware of the real impact on internet freedom in Brazil when he supported the Marco Civil to pass in the Brazilian congress last year. Using the Brazilian Civil "Rights" Framework, a minor Brazilian court ordered WhatsApp service to be suspended in the whole country after WhatsApp refused to provide user's data. The order was happily accomplished by the Brazilian mobile phone companies as they have been lobbying to convince the government to regulate the service in Brazil since their profits are decreasing steadily after Brazilians started using WhastsApp instead of (tolled) SMS and phone calls. Brazil has the most expensive cell phone rates on the planet. Adds readers André Costa: The ban is a result of WhatsApp failing to comply with two previous court orders, on July 23 and August 7. Even though [the ban] affects millions of users, the service of course remains accessible through Wi-Fi. The plaintiff's identity is being kept secret. The news has already spread worldwide). The ban on WhatsApp resulted in more than 1.5 million users joining its competitor Telegram.

3 of 134 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Connection is obscure by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    It has nothing to do with "Marco Civil"...

    A judge (one single judge) ordered the shutdown of Whatsapp because Facebook wasn't complying with a court order for providing information on an account owned by a criminal already convicted at a lower level court.

  2. Re:If not a judge, then who? by vbraga · · Score: 5, Informative

    So, if he can not force a company to comply, who can?

    WhatsApp doesn't have an official presence in Brazil. The warrant is served to the local Facebook subsidiary. WhatsApp ignores the Brazilian court order. The Brazilian court retaliates, first with a fine, once again ignored by WhatsApp and now with a 48 hours ban. So, the judge is trying to force WhatsApp to comply.

    --
    English is not my first language. Corrections and suggestions are welcome.
  3. it's over by sociocapitalist · · Score: 3, Informative

    That didn't last long -

    "Brazil judge lifts WhatsApp suspension"
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-...

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    blindly antisocialist = antisocial