RIO DE JANEIRO, August 20. /TASS/. Brazilian authorities want to stop using the WhatsApp messenger owned by Meta corporation [recognized as extremist in Russia] due to data leak threats, the Brasil247 web portal reports, citing head of the Brazilian Industrial Development Agency (ABDI) under the government Ricardo Capelli.

The national administration will announce a tender for local IT companies to develop social networks and messengers similar to WhatsApp for the purpose of improving security of data transmission and prevention of their leaks, he said. "Our armed forces are already using their own message exchange service developed by a strategic defense company of our country," Capelli wrote on the X social network.

He noted at the same time that the Brazilian government will not block messenger’s operation in the country. "We do not want to prohibit anything, we are just defending our sovereignty," Capelli added.