Brazil Putting Social Network Companies Through Hoops in Quests for Data

On Monday, May 2nd Brazil blocked WhatsApp service for a second time in a span of 6 months because the messaging service had not turned over data requested for a criminal investigation. Phone companies were faced with a $143,000 fine per day if they did not comply with a judicial order to shut down the messaging service for a three day period.

Facebook, which owns WhatsApp, has been facing heavy government oversight in the country since the beginning of the year. It had just faced a similar 48 hour block of its WhatsApp service in December 2015. Frustration expressed across social media channels led the block to be lifted just after 12 hours. However, in March, Brazilian authorities tried another tactic to obtain Facebook data by detaining Diego Dzodan, vice president of Latin America at Facebook and Instagram. Brazil argued that the data requested was related to a drug trafficking investigation.

Brazil’s request for Facebook data has grown since January 2013. According to Facebook’s government requests reports for Brazil, the number of requests has increased by more than 55%, from 715 requests made between January and June 2013 to 1,655 requests made between July and December 2015.