A Brazilian judge on April 5 ordered the company to pay a fine of up to 111.7 million real (about $ 33.4 million) on charges for not doing co-operation with the authorities in a corruption investigation.
Facebook is punished for not allowing investigators to access personal messages based on Facebook’s WhatsApp platform in 2016. These people were investigated which is associated with a corruption case in the health sector of the Amazonas state, Brazil.
In a press release sent via e-mail, Facebook claimed the Brazilian government’s allegations that the consortium from the United States was non-cooperative is unfounded.
“Facebook is always cooperating with law enforcement agencies, in which we have disclosed the data within the legal framework.” We believe this fine is groundless and will Take possible legal action, “Facebook statement stated.
According to Reuters, Facebook requires Brazilian authorities to access WhatsApp messages issued in April 2016. However, in June 2016, Facebook did not accept this request to force the Brazilian government to use sanctions.
The 1 million reals (currency of Brazil) interest charge per day for Facebook starts from June 2016 to September the same year after the investigation ends. Police found tens of millions of reals (currency of Brazil) were smuggled in the investigation.
In other related developments on April 5, Facebook’s share price rise to 4.2 percent after a string of crippled days. A positive signal from the market was made only after Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg reassured investors that the company’s advertising space was not affected by the data leakage scandal.