Brazilian judge orders mobile providers to block WhatsApp for 72 hours

A Brazilian judge has ordered wireless phone carriers to block access to Facebook Inc’s WhatsApp for 72 hours throughout Latin America’s largest country on Monday, the second such move against the popular messaging application in five months.

The decision by the judge in the north-eastern state of Sergipe applies to the five main wireless operators in Brazil and affects WhatsApp’s more than 100 million users in the country. The reason for the order is not known due to legal secrecy in an ongoing case in the Sergipe state court.

In a statement, WhatsApp said the company was “disappointed at the decision” after doing the utmost to cooperate with Brazilian tribunals.

The decision “punishes more than 100 million users who depend upon us to communicate themselves, run their business and more, just to force us to hand over information that we don’t have”, the statement said, without elaborating.