Brazil Authorizes Immediate Blocking of Prison Cellphones

Overview

• The federal government published the decree authorizing immediate blocks of identified cellphones and interruptions of radio signals inside defined prison perimeters without prior judicial approval.
• State penitentiary administrations must identify incidents and submit technical data through a Justice Ministry digital platform that is integrated with the national penal information system (Sisdepen).
• Individual device blocks will follow the Banco Nacional de Celulares com Restrição procedure while requests to interrupt signals across an area are routed to the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel).
• The government cites nearly 10,000 cellphones seized in coordinated prison searches over the past three years as the main reason for the measure and as evidence of inmates’ ability to direct crimes from inside prisons.
• The decree centralizes operational responsibility for blocking and formalizes how prisons and the telecom regulator cooperate, a change that will speed technical action and alter how communications disruptions are executed around prison facilities.