Andy Stone, Meta’s communications director, has been sentenced in absentia to six years of imprisonment by a Russian court for ‘publicly defending terrorism.’ The charges stem from a Twitter/X comment Stone posted in March 2022, advocating aggressive, hostile, and violent actions against ‘Russian servicemen participating in the special military operation,’ which is what Russia calls its invasion of Ukraine.
Stone posted Meta’s statement on the 2022 policy that temporarily allowed forms of political expression to be posted on its social media sites that would normally violate the company’s terms of service, such as ‘death to the Russian invaders.’ Facebook and Instagram, already banned in Russia following the invasion of Ukraine, were found guilty of ‘extremist activity’ by a Russian court over the policy change, and Stone was placed on a wanted list.
With no extradition treaty existing between the US and Russia, Stone should be safe as long as he stays away from the country.