Brazil Judge Orders Phone Carriers To Block WhatsApp Message App (reuters.com)

A Brazilian judge has ordered wireless phone carriers to block access to Facebook's WhatsApp indefinitely, starting on Tuesday, the third such incident against the popular phone messaging app in eight months. Reuters report: The decision by Judge Daniela Barbosa Assuncao de Souza in the southeastern state of Rio de Janeiro applies to Brazil's five wireless carriers. The reason for the order was not known due to legal secrecy in an ongoing case, and will only be lifted once Facebook surrenders data, Souza's office said. Sao Paulo-based representatives at WhatsApp, which is owned by Facebook Inc, as well as the Brazilian five carriers -- Telefonica Brasil SA, America Movil SAB's Claro, TIM Participacoes SA, Oi SA and Nextel Participacoes SA.

Comments

96% !

[ramriot]

In consideration of:-

1/ the fact that due to massively expensive texting costs that Brazilian carriers place on customers ~96% of them use Whatsapp.

2/ Whatsapp just happens to offer full e2e strong encryption.

3/ Criminals want to save money also.

So criminals use whatsapp to communicate, thus thwarting legal interception.

I would suggest to the Judge that the root problem is not Whatsapp but the government supported telecoms carriers who forced this situation to exist.

Also, seriously Judges. Someone needs to go down there and teach them the meaning of impossible.

Re:"Blocked". What does "blocked" mean in this cas

[fustakrakich]

Prevent WhatsApp traffic from transiting phone carrier networks? Doesn't affect Wi-Fi, then....Maybe the judge has no idea, and neither do the folks who are supposed to implement it.

Neither do you if you think the wifi networks aren't connected to the internet through the phone carriers.