recode : WhatsApp is back after being blocked yet again in Brazil

WhatsApp is back after being blocked yet again in Brazil

Once again, popular messaging service WhatsApp is being blocked in Brazil as the result of a judicial order.(Update: And now, after a reversal, it's back up; see updates below.)It's the third time in the past year that the service has been ordered offline by a judge for failing to turn over user information.

Brazil judge briefly blocks WhatsApp over criminal case

SAO PAULO A Brazilian judge briefly blocked Facebook Inc's WhatsApp messaging service on Tuesday for failing to cooperate in a criminal investigation, before the nation's top court overturned the measure in the third such incident since December.Federal Supreme Court President Ricardo Lewandowski said in a decision that it seemed "scarcely reasonable or proportional" for a judge in Rio de Janeiro state to have ordered the indefinite suspension of the messaging app until it revealed encrypted messages pertaining to a confidential case.Still, the criminal judge left some 100 million Brazilian users without access to the messaging app for hours on Tuesday afternoon, showing the vast and unpredictable discretionary power of Brazil's lower courts.

Judge Orders WhatsApp Restored in Brazil as Olympics Near

Brazil's chief justice ordered service restored for Facebook Inc.'s WhatsApp, saying the government's decision to block the messaging app violated freedom of speech and communication in the country.WhatsApp had been blocked earlier Tuesday for the third time in seven months in Brazil, a country where the messaging service is ubiquitous.The suspension added to the long list of difficulties Brazil is facing 17 days before the start of the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

WhatsApp Is Briefly Shut Down in Brazil for a Third Time

PhotoRIO DE JANEIRO — For months, authorities in Brazil have sought access to digital data from WhatsApp to aid in criminal investigations.WhatsApp has repeatedly resisted the requests.On Tuesday, the same clash erupted again, for the third time in less than a year.

In Brazil and Elsewhere, WhatsApp Feels the Pressures of Encryption

It's difficult to overstate the influence of WhatsApp in Brazil.The messaging app, which was essential for nearly half of all smartphone users in Brazil according to a June 2016 report by Mobile Time and Opinion Box, has seen its fair share of turmoil in the country, however: A Brazilian judge recently ordered a shutdown of the app for 72 hours as a result of WhatsApp's refusal to cooperate with a subpoena in a criminal case.But WhatsApp claims that, given the encryption of their app, there would be no data to turn over.