WhatsApp was temporarily suspended in Brazil after a judge said the company had failed to hand over information requested in a criminal investigation.

The third suspension in two years lasted for a few hours, affecting millions of users.

But Supreme Court judge Ricardo Lewandowski later lifted the nationwide blockage, saying it was disproportionate.

WhatsApp said they did not have access to the details requested.

The most recent suspension happened in May, and forced 100 million people to turn to alternative services - a huge proportion of the internet-using population in a country with some of the world's highest mobile phone charges.


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In March, a Facebook executive was detained overnight for failing to comply with an attempt to block WhatsApp.

A Whatsapp spokesperson had said: "As we've said in the past we cannot share information we don't have access to.

"Indiscriminate steps like these threaten people's ability to communicate, to run their businesses, and to live their lives."