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Snowden’s Email Service Shuts Down

Lavabit’s founder posts message to users.

The founder of Lavabit, the email service used by whistleblower Edward Snowden, announced the company would be shutting down Thursday in a message posted on the group’s homepage.“I have been forced to make a difficult decision: to become complicit in crimes against the American people or walk away from nearly ten years of hard work by shutting down Lavabit,” writes Ladar Levison. The message, which includes a section explaining how the government stopped Levison from sharing his story, ends in a warning. “Without congressional action or a strong judicial precedent, I would _strongly_ recommend against anyone trusting their private data to a company with physical ties to the U.S.”