- A Meta spokesperson is wanted by the Russian government.
- The charges are unknown, but the employee had been on a wanted list since February.
- A Russian court ordered that the spokesperson by arrested in absentia.
A Meta spokesperson has been wanted by Russia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs database since February, media outlets based in Russia found on Sunday.
According to Mediazona, a Russian outlet not affiliated with the state, Andy Stone is wanted by the ministry for unspecified terrorism charges. Russian state news agency TASS also reported that Stone is “wanted under an article of the Russian Criminal Code.”
Stone serves as the communications director for Meta and has been working at the social media company since 2014, per LinkedIn.
The outlet also reported that Stone was arrested in absentia by a Russian court in mid-November. Details of his case have not been released, per the outlet. The wanted database also does not give any details about his case.
The charges against Stone are another layer in Russia’s crackdown on the social media giant. Before the war in Ukraine, Meta products like Facebook and Instagram enjoyed popularity among Russian users. However, the sites are now banned in Russia, and Meta itself has been listed as a “terrorist” and “extremist” organization since October 2022.
WhatsApp, also owned by Meta, is still operating in the country, Mediazona reported.
Russia also opened a case against Meta in March 2022, saying that the company promoted “terrorist activity” after it altered its hate speech rules for Ukrainian and Polish users.
Mediazona reported that, at the time, the Russian ministry mentioned Stone in a press release because he had announced Meta’s decision to allow users to post about the “death of Russian invaders.”
At the time, Stone announced that the calls would be treated as political speech rather than actual threats.
Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
