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Facebook Executive Arrested In Brazil

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The head of Facebook's Latin America division has reportedly been arrested in Brazil.

Diego Dzoran was arrested on Tuesday on the orders of a Brazilian judge, the Associated Press reports. Dzoran is accused of failing to comply with a judge's request for data related to an ongoing investigation into "organized crime and drug trafficking."

The reported arrest is just the latest in a long line of issues Facebook has faced in Brazil.

In December, a judge ordered phone companies to temporarily shut down WhatsApp, Facebook's wildly popular messaging application, after the company reportedly failed to respond to a court order. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg quickly responded, saying that it was "a sad day for Brazil." While a judge quickly overturned the ban, the service was down for about 48 hours, nonetheless.

Reuters reported at the time that the WhatsApp ban was over a case involving a drug trafficker linked to the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC)—the country's largest criminal organization—who allegedly used WhatsApp to carry out his crimes. Facebook was reportedly provided a judicial order last July to hand over data related to the person's communication. It declined to comply, prompting the shutdown.

"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," Zuckerberg said at the time.

The case smacks of the ongoing battle between Apple and the FBI over whether the company should work with law enforcement to provide software that would unlock one of the San Bernardino attacker's phones. Apple says it's protecting user privacy, as is Facebook in Brazil. However, it seems Brazil has upped the ante in its battle with Facebook.

Facebook did not immediately repond to a request for comment.

This article originally appeared on PCMag.com.

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Don Reisinger

Don Reisinger

donreisinger@gmail.com

Don Reisinger is a longtime freelance technology journalist and product reviewer. He covers everything from Apple to gaming to start-ups. You can follow him on Twitter @donreisinger.

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