"A cybercrime report under discussion on Tuesday includes proposals to allow application blocking explicitly, said Pallero, which would increase the number of cases in Brazil.
The block may have impeded journalists' ability to perform their jobs, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
"Journalists in Brazil regularly rely on WhatsApp in their reporting," said Geoffrey King, technology program coordinator at CPJ. "Blocking access to such a widely used platform is an overreach that violates the open nature of the Internet and disproportionately damages the free flow of information.""