Andy Stone, Meta’s spokesperson, was sentenced to six years in prison by a military court in Russia, according to the Moscow Times.
Andy Stone is Meta’s Communications Director in Washington, DC. Previously, he has worked with the US Senate, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and the US Congress.
Why was Andy Stone sentenced in Russia?
Stone was charged with “promotion,” “public calls for,” and “justification” of terrorism after announcing in March 2022 that the parent company of Facebook and Instagram would temporarily relax its ban on violent speech in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Legal action against Stone was prompted by Meta’s decision to relax its restrictions on violent speech in the context of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Stone announced the policy change in a tweet, 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.”
According to Radio Free Europe, a US government-run news channel, the Russian military court’s inquiry into Meta began the following day, on March 11, 2022.
Meta’s policy modification allowed for the temporary approval of certain types of political speech. Protestors could express their anger with violent speech such as “death to the Russian invaders,” to address the heightened tensions resulting from the invasion.
According to Reuters, this update also allowed users to advocate for the assassination of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in 2022.
Stone later stressed that, while the business was allowing more violent discourse to address Ukrainian outrage about the military invasion, any calls for violence against Russian residents were strictly barred.
The allowance for calls for violence against Russian soldiers was limited to residents of a dozen countries, excluding individuals in the U.S., according to Reuters: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, and Ukraine.
Will Andy Stone be jailed in Russia?
Andy Stone is unlikely to face legal consequences in Russia if he avoids visiting Moscow anytime soon. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s founder, and Meta’s CEO, has been barred from entering Russia since April 2022.
