Perhaps I am overstepping my bounds, but to me it seems that using coercion to get information from a witness (Whatsapp appears to be in the position of a witness) is a recipe for getting unreliable information when the witness.<p>Whatsapp seems to be in a position that it could retaliate against this Brazilian judge by giving false testimony.  Afterall, Whatsapp and the parties to the messages are probably the only people who know what was said in those messages; Whatsapp could modify the messages such that they exonerate the accused.  If the judge has played his only trump card by blocking usage of Whatsapp in Brazil, then Whatsapp knows the absolute worst that can happen by lying about what was said in the messages.  Worse, the Judge may not even be able to prove what the messages actually contained.