The popular mobile messaging application Whatsapp will be blocked in Brazil for 48 hours from today after a court ruling, the state news agency reported.

A court in Sao Bernardo do Campo ordered telephone network operators to block Whatsapp as punishment for the company’s alleged refusal to cooperate with a separate lawsuit, Agencia Brasil said on its website late yesterday.

The US-based application is used by millions in Brazil, the world’s fifth most populous country. Worldwide, it has some 900 million monthly active users.

- dpa