META OFFICIAL GETS 6-YEAR JAIL IN ABSENTIA BY RUSSIA FOR ‘TERRORISM’. 5 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT ANDY STONE
In Russia, Meta's spokesperson, Andy Stone, received a six-year prison sentence in absentia for justifying terrorism. The charges stemmed from his 2022 remarks following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, where Stone announced temporary changes to Meta's hate speech policy to allow for “forms of political expression that would normally violate (its) rules, like violent speech such as death to the Russian invaders.'”
Stone, based in the United States, faces legal consequences amid escalating international tensions.
Here's all you need to know about Andy Stone:
- Andy Stone, Meta's Communication Director based in Washington DC, previously engaged in US politics. Earlier, he worked with US Senate, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and also US Congress
- Stone faces charges for ‘promoting, publicly calling for, and justifying’ terrorism after announcing the temporary lift of Facebook and Instagram's ban on violent speech post-Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
- In 2022, in a tweet Stone made the policy change announcement, drawing attention from Russian authorities, “As a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we have temporarily made allowances for forms of political expression that would normally violate our rules, like violent speech such as 'death to the Russian invaders.' We still won’t allow credible calls for violence against Russian civilians.”
- He further added that “credible calls for violence against Russian civilians” would remain banned. The Russian authorities opened a criminal case implicating Stone and other unidentified Meta employees nonetheless, describing the statement as “illegal calls to violence and killings of Russian citizens.”
- Local outlet Mediazona reported on Tuesday that Stone was initially charged with calling for terrorist activity, public calls for extremist activity and publicly justifying terrorism, but the first two charges were dropped in the final version of the indictment. The trial, in which Stone was represented by a government-appointed lawyer, began on Friday and concluded on Monday after only two hearings. Stone was sentenced to six years in a penal colony and barred from administering websites for four more years.
- However, he is unlikely to face legal repercussions in Russia as long as he refrains from visiting Moscow anytime soon.