Brazil’s WhatsApp Ban Reveals A Big, Scary Problem For Everyone

A judge dealt a serious blow to Brazil’s most popular app on last week, closing access to 93 million people who rely on WhatsApp to communicate with one another.
WhatsApp reportedly failed to provide information pertaining to a criminal case despite judicial rulings.
The ban was supposed to last for 48 hours but was overturned. Regardless, it speaks to a larger problem that impacts not only Brazilians, but anyone who uses a smartphone — or any online service, for that matter. If an app or service can get shut down with the flip of a switch, where does that leave users?
WhatsApp has rapidly become a more popular way to communicate than using standard SMS services. That’s a sticky problem for telecommunications companies, which make serious bank by charging for services like text messaging. So, as TechCrunch notes, it’s no surprise that telecommunications companies in Brazil have claimed for months that WhatsApp “is unregulated and illegal.”