Andy Stone, the spokesperson for Meta Platforms, was found guilty on Monday of “publicly defending terrorism” by a military court in Moscow. The ruling was made in absentia, according to the RIA news agency. Stone was sentenced to six years in prison.
Meta itself has been declared an extremist organisation in Russia since 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine and its Facebook and Instagram social media platforms have also been banned in the country.
A request for comment from Meta was not immediately answered. Stone, the director of communications at Meta, was not reachable either.
The defendant’s attorney, Valentina Filippenkova, was quoted by Interfax as stating that an appeal would be filed against the punishment.
She was quoted to have said, “I asked for an acquittal.”
Without revealing any particular charges, Russia’s interior ministry launched a criminal inquiry into Stone towards the end of last year.
According to state investigators, Stone made remarks on the internet endorsing “aggressive, hostile and violent actions” against Russian soldiers engaged in what Moscow refers to as its “special military operation” in Ukraine. This information was cited by RIA.
