WhatsApp, a popular instant messaging service owned by Facebook, was briefly shut down in Brazil on Thursday after the American firm refused to place wiretaps on certain WhatsApp accounts.

A São Paulo judge ordered telecommunications carriers to block WhatsApp for 48 hours, beginning Thursday, after the company did not comply with police eavesdropping requests, which came as part of a criminal drug case. Facebook said it was technically impossible to wiretap the accounts.

Shortly after the ban went into effect, an appeals court overturned it, restoring access for the 100 million Brazilians who regularly send messages with the service.

The appeals court said it was “not reasonable” to suspend a service used by so many people simply because the company had failed to provide information to the courts.