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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

Facebook's Vice President in Latin America Diego Dzodan [linkedin.com] has been arrested for refusing to comply with a Brazilian court order demanding WhatsApp data [bbc.com] in relation to a drug trafficking investigation:

Police in Brazil have arrested the vice president of the social media company Facebook in Latin America. Diego Dzodan, an Argentine national, has repeatedly refused to comply with court orders to hand over data for use in a criminal investigation into drugs trafficking, police said. His arrest relates to the messaging service WhatsApp, owned by Facebook. In a statement, Facebook called Mr Dzodan's arrest an "extreme and disproportionate measure".

Mr Dzodan's arrest was ordered by a judge in the north-eastern state of Sergipe. He was held as he left his house in an exclusive area of Sao Paulo on Tuesday morning. Judge Marcel Maia Montalvao had in two previous instances issued fines against Facebook for refusing to release WhatsApp data. The information was needed as part "secrete judicial investigations involving organised crime and drug trafficking," he said.

Also at TechCrunch [techcrunch.com].

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