--- description: A judge in Brazil ordered that phone companies block Facebook's messaging service WhatsApp throughout the country for 72 hours title: A Brazil Judge Just Ordered a WhatsApp Block for 72 Hours image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt50a4fb2b18b1c538/69889172524fc03ffcdf7cc4/whatsapp-blocked-brazil-judge.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) ## Tech Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # WhatsApp Blocked in Brazil for 72 Hours  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 2, 2016 5:05 PM CUT  A screen shot of the popular WhatsApp smartphone application is seen after a court in Brazil ordered cellular service providers nationwide to block the application for two days in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on December 17, 2015\. The unprecedented 48-hour blockage was to implement a Sao Paulo state court order and was to take effect at 0200 GMT Thursday, although it was not immediately clear if service providers would acquiesce to the order.The court said WhatsApp had been asked several times to cooperate in a criminal investigation, but had repeatedly failed to comply. AFP PHOTO / YASUYOSHI CHIBA / AFP / YASUYOSHI CHIBA (Photo credit should read YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP/Getty Images) A screen shot of the popular WhatsApp smartphone application is seen after a court in Brazil ordered cellular service providers nationwide to block the application for two days in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on December 17, 2015\. The unprecedented 48-hour blockage was to implement a Sao Paulo state court order and was to take effect at 0200 GMT Thursday, although it was not immediately clear if service providers would acquiesce to the order.The court said WhatsApp had been asked several times to cooperate in a criminal investigation, but had repeatedly failed to comply. AFP PHOTO / YASUYOSHI CHIBA / AFP / YASUYOSHI CHIBA (Photo credit should read YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP/Getty Images)Yasuyoshi Chiba—AFP/Getty Images  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 2, 2016 5:05 PM CUT A judge in Brazil ordered on Monday that phone companies block Facebook’s messaging service WhatsApp throughout the country [for 72 hours](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-02/facebook-s-whatsapp-blocked-again-in-brazil-over-data-dispute "undefined") in response to its refusal to cooperate in a police investigation. Judge Marcel Montalvao delivered the order because WhatsApp would not turn over information that could relate to [an investigation into narcotics activity](http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/mercado/2016/05/1766869-justica-determina-bloqueio-do-whatsapp-em-todo-o-brasil-por-72-horas.shtml "undefined") and an interstate gang. The ban will go into effect at 2 p.m. local time, Bloomberg reports, and the fine to phone companies for not blocking the app would be about $143,000 per day. [Roughly half of Brazil’s population](http://www.wsj.com/articles/brazil-court-suspends-facebooks-whatsapp-for-48-hours-1450348131 "undefined") of 200 million uses the messaging service as an economical alternative to other, pricier forms of communication, so the shutdown will have a big effect on many Brazilians. This is [the second time](http://time.com/4153152/whatsapp-suspended-brazil/ "undefined") in six months a judge has suspended the service in Brazil, though a court overturned the previous decision in December. \[[_Bloomberg_](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-02/facebook-s-whatsapp-blocked-again-in-brazil-over-data-dispute "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4314561/whatsapp-block-brazil-72/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4314561/whatsapp-block-brazil-72/"},"headline":"WhatsApp Blocked in Brazil for 72 Hours","datePublished":"2016-05-02T17:05:04.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:49:56.012Z","description":"A judge ordered the block when the messaging service would not turn over data in an investigation","url":"https://time.com/4314561/whatsapp-block-brazil-72/","keywords":["Tech","Crime","Technology","apps","facebook"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt50a4fb2b18b1c538/69889172524fc03ffcdf7cc4/whatsapp-blocked-brazil-judge.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Julia Zorthian","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt50a4fb2b18b1c538/69889172524fc03ffcdf7cc4/whatsapp-blocked-brazil-judge.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"whatsapp blocked brazil judge","caption":"whatsapp blocked brazil judge","creditText":"Yasuyoshi Chiba—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4314561/whatsapp-block-brazil-72/","name":"WhatsApp Blocked in Brazil for 72 Hours"}}]}] ```