WhatsApp back online in Brazil after ban

UPDATE: WhatsApp is back online in Brazil after a judge struck down a lower court ruling that temporarily ordered telecoms to block the popular messaging service, snarling communications for many of its 100 million users in Brazil for about 12 hours.

The lower court in Sao Paulo state ordered WhatsApp blocked in connection to a criminal case because it wouldn’t hand over user information.

In a statement posted to Facebook, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, “Your voices have been heard and the block has been lifted. Thank you to our community for helping resolve this!”

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RIO DE JANEIRO – WhatsApp is blocked throughout Brazil following a judicial order requiring cellphone operators here to disable the messaging app for 48 hours.

The order a criminal court in Sao Paulo state went into effect at midnight.

The order resulted from criminal proceedings haven’t been made public.

In a statement, the Sao Paulo court said the messaging service had failed to heed two prior judicial orders earlier this year. For that reason, the public prosecutor’s office requested the app be blocked, the statement said.

Mark Zuckerberg, who heads WhatsApp’s parent company Facebook, reacted with a Facebook post calling it “a sad day for Brazil.” He says the company is working to get the block reversed.

“This is a sad day for Brazil. Until today, Brazil has been an ally in creating an open internet. Brazilians have always been among the most passionate in sharing their voice online,” he wrote on Facebook.

“I am stunned that our efforts to protect people’s data would result in such an extreme decision by a single judge to punish every person in Brazil who uses WhatsApp.”