WASHINGTON — Yahoo said Thursday the government threatened to fine the company $250,000 a day if it did not comply with demands to go along with an expansion of U.S. surveillance by surrendering online information, a step the company regarded as unconstitutional.

The outlines of Yahoo’s secret and ultimately unsuccessful court fight against government surveillance emerged when a federal judge ordered the unsealing of some material about Yahoo’s court challenge. The material was first reported by The Washington Post

Yahoo said the government amended a law to demand user information from online services, prompting a challenge in 2007. Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden disclosed the program last year.


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