Court freezes Facebook’s funds in Brazil

SAO PAULO – A Brazilian news site said a federal court has ordered more than $6 million in Facebook funds frozen because its popular messaging service WhatsApp failed to turn over messages sought in a drug case.

The G1 news site says the order to freeze Facebook’s accounts was issued Thursday night. The court in the southern state of Parana said it had no immediate comment and Facebook said it would not comment.

Police have said that WhatsApp has repeatedly defied repeated orders to turn over messages sent and received by suspected members of a drug trafficking gang.

The frozen $6.1 million is equal to WhatsApp’s accumulated fines for refusing to comply.