Update: the suspension has been overturned. Brazilians and their pants breathe a collective sigh of relief.
WhatsApp has been suspended in Brazil for two days after a judge ordered it blocked. Details surrounding the decision are a little murky, but Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook is the parent company of WhatsApp) posted on his Facebook wall that the suspension was because related to the company’s attempt to guard customers’ data.
Tonight, a Brazilian judge blocked WhatsApp for more than 100 million people who rely on it in her country.
We are working hard to get this block reversed. Until then, Facebook Messenger is still active and you can use it to communicate instead.
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.
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.
We hope the Brazilian courts quickly reverse course. If you’re Brazilian, please make your voice heard and help your government reflect the will of its people.
#ConnectBrazil #ConnectTheWorld
You may or may not know this, but in Brazil WhatsApp is the #1 way that people communicate with each other. It’s free, so why not?
But that’s neither here nor there. The reason that this story is so big is because of the consequences of the shut down. And we can say almost empirically that the amount of sex going down in Brazil will decline rapidly for two days.
Think about it. No sexting. No booty calls. No nothing. And even worse, the suspension is going to continue on into the weekend.
The upside for you is that if you have any Brazilian female friends, talk to them about the shutdown. Not only will it let them know you care about international events, it’ll also remind them that their Brazilian boyfriends can’t bother them for a couple of days.
