Uber's latest roadblock: Bans in Brazil

(Image credit: AP Photo/Nelson Antoine)

published 1 July 2015

Talk about some global issues. After last week's protests in Paris led to the indictment of two Uber executives in France, the ride-sharing company has already hit another roadblock — on the other side of the world.

In Brasilia, Brazil's capital, the city council voted to ban ride-sharing apps. And now Sao Paolo, the country's biggest city, is on its way to doing the same, voting 48-1 on Tuesday to prohibit its 12 million citizens from using smartphone-based ride-sharing apps. While Sao Paolo's ban still needs another vote and then approval from its mayor, and Brasilia's needs a final sign-off from its governor, Uber has remained defiant, posting on its Facebook page that the company "defends the right of users to choose the way they want to move about the city."

Uber has assumed a similarly flippant attitude in response to similar allegations in France, which a spokesperson for Uber called a "piece of pure calumny," The Wall Street Journal reports. The two Uber executives in France are facing charges including the illicit storage of personal data and the enabling of illegal taxi services.