Just recently, WhatsApp was once again suspended in Brazil for being unable to cooperate in a criminal investigation. It was brought back up a while later since the company really could not provide the information the police was trying to acquire.
This has been the fourth time in two years that WhatsApp had conflict with the Brazilian authorities. There was a 19-page long ruling made by the Brazilian court demanding to suspend the services of WhatsApp until further notice. According to Jamaica Observer, Facebook owns WhatsApp and Brazilian courts demanded the company turn in information over to the police for an investigation. If the company was not able to comply, it would have to pay a fine of $15,265 for every day that passed by in the investigation.
In a statement made by WhatsApp, the company claims that the court ruling was not fair and was disrupting the people's chance to communicate and go on with their everyday life. The company's argument was that it is protecting the privacy of their users and their freedom to communicate.
The last suspension of WhatsApp lasted for a day, this happened back in May. In the latest ruling, Judge Daniela Barbosa said that Facebook had been irresponsible in not providing any information that could lead to the success of a criminal investigation.
Just last April, WhatsApp launched a new update of end-to-end encryption. This meant that any conversation between people is only to their knowledge, that not even WhatsApp gets the information between messages as reported by BBC News. With that on point, WhatsApp then claimed they could not provide the information that was asked of them from the court.
A representative of WhatsApp had said that they could not give out any information that even they do not have access to. This end-to-end encryption feature was launched to provide the users the benefit of privacy in communication.
The frequent blockage of the app during these circumstances could lead to WhatsApp losing users and subscribers. These incidents have already angered many users.
