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A military court in Moscow has sentenced Meta's Communications Director Andy Stone to six years in prison for "publicly defending terrorism," Reuters reports. The sentence was handed down in absentia because Stone isn't currently in Russia (and likely has no plans to visit).
Stone was initially added to Russia's wanted list in November for "aiding and abetting terrorism." The ruling was appealed, but in February, the courts ordered Stone's arrest in absentia again for "promotion of terrorist activities, public justification or propaganda of terrorism, and public calls for extremist activities." This time, the courts followed through with a trial.
Stone's lawyer is now appealing the most recent decision, Reuters reports.
The charges date back to 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine. At the time, Stone said Meta had "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.”
Russia responded by banning Facebook and Instagram in the country, citing them both as "extremist platforms" for allowing users to post about violence against Russian soldiers.
By March 2022, the US added additional sanctions on Russia's technology companies. Russia retaliated by banning over two dozen people from the country, including US Vice President Kamala Harris, LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.