Users report automatic and unreasonable blocking of accounts on WhatsApp

The blockade occurred around 11 am. "Some activities on your account may not comply with the WhatsApp Business terms of service", says the application's warning about one of the ban cases, without detailing the reasons.

Meta, the conglomerate behind WhatsApp, said it works to prevent misuse of the service. "We ban accounts to help protect other users."

"Occasionally, we may make mistakes and, when this happens, we seek to resolve the situation as quickly as possible so that people can communicate again", added the corporation.

On Downdetector, people say they don't know the reason for the restriction and deny unusual use of the app. Some of them say they have resorted to the request for analysis, a mechanism available to appeal against punishment within the administration of Meta itself.

On the social network X, lawyer Arthur Estrela, also the target of the restriction, says that the measure can be challenged in court. "If [the accounts] don't come back, we will have a wave of lawsuits."

The unjustified blockade is a violation of consumer rights and current jurisprudence indicates the reversal of the veto, according to lawyers interviewed in a report by Folha de S. Paulo.

A publication by a Peruvian entity, called Elegir, indicates that the failure occurred in other countries as well.