Update: in the evening of the 20th, a few hours after the announcement of the blockade, the judges lifted the forced block and WhatsApp returned to work regularly throughout Brazil .

Here we go again, a Brazilian judge has blocked Whatsapp across the country. Brazil is without WhatsApp, the application is no longer active. The cause was Facebook’s decision not to hand over to local authorities the recordings of WhatsApp conversations of some people under investigation for various crimes in a secret investigation. It is the third suspension of WhatsApp in Brazil this year, a war that Facebook – owner of Whatsapp – does not want to lose.

The sentence of the judge of Rio de Janeiro, Daniela Barbosa de Souza, has a precise order: suspension of service throughout the country. All Brazilian telephone operators were notified by the Rio court at 11:30 am with the order was to  stop  the service immediately. Otherwise, companies will be subject to a  daily fine of $ 50,000 . The measure is indefinite.

Brazilian justice has requested Facebook three times to deliver copies of messages exchanged by people under investigation, but the company said it does not keep or copy any messages from its WhatsApp users.

In addition to the suspension of the service, the judge imposed a daily fine for Facebook . For each day that passes without providing the requested information, he has to pay 50,000 reais (just over 13,000 euros).

” The instant messaging service threatens security because criminals no longer use the phone to communicate, but WhatsApp, with the certainty that justice will not have access to their communications “, explained the judge.

WhatsApp has already been blocked twice due to an order from a court of first instance in Brazil, again on charges of failing to provide useful information for security in the country. In December last year, a Sao Bernardo do Campo judge suspended and reactivated WhatsApp twelve hours after the sentence on appeal. In May another block , in the state of Piaui, withdrawn 24 hours later.

In the previous two suspensions, the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatelha) considered the restrictions disproportionate , as the decision affects 100 million users who use WhatsApp in Brazil, without committing anything illegal.

And you, which side are you on? If you were in the place of WhatsApp would you deliver user conversations for security reasons? Give your opinion by leaving a comment below.