An independent Russian news site has reported that a court in Russia convicted the spokesperson of U.S. technology company Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, of justifying terrorism and sentenced him to six years in prison in absentia.
FILE - Social media applications are displayed on an iPhone, March 13, 2019, in New York. An independent Russian news site has reported that a court in Russia convicted the spokesman of U.S. technology company Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, of justifying terrorism and sentenced him to six years in prison in absentia.
According to the outlet, the charges against Meta communications director Andy Stone stem from his remarks in 2022 followingon Feb. 24 that year. Stone, who is based in the United States, announced temporary changes to Meta’s hate speech policy to allow for “forms of political expression that would normally violate rules, like violent speech such as ‘death to the Russian invaders.
The authorities also outlawed Meta as an extremist organization and blocked Facebook and Instagram in Russia. Both platforms — as well as X, formerly known as Twitter, which has also been blocked — were popular with Russians before the invasion and the subsequent crackdown on independent media and other forms of critical speech. However, they are now only accessible via VPN.
Mediazona reported 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.
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