Meta Communications Director Andy Stone has been added to the Russian interior ministry’s wanted list under an article of the Criminal Code.
Russia’s interior ministry has added Meta’s Communications Director Andy Stone to its wanted list under an article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
According to Russian state news agency Tass, Mr. Stone has been listed on an internal database within the government agency. Earlier this month, a Russian court ordered the arrest of Mr. Stone in absentia for allegedly “aiding terrorism.”
The full details of the case against Mr. Stone and why he has been listed on a wanted list have not been disclosed by the Russian government.
Russia’s actions against Mr. Stone are the latest in a flurry of legal salvos the country has launched against Meta. Last year
a Moscow court convicted Meta, the parent company of social media platform Facebook, for alleged “extremist activity.” A Moscow
court rejected an appeal filed by Meta a few months later.
Meta’s flagship platforms, Facebook and Instagram, were already banned in Russia. WhatsApp was unaffected by the ruling. Russian authorities banned Facebook for restricting access to Russian media in the wake of the Feb. 24, 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Russia has also objected to the foreign platforms’ treatment of its own media, some of which carry labels of being “state-controlled.”
Instagram was blocked after Meta allowed
messages urging violence against Russian President Vladimir Putin and its military forces in Ukraine. Meta has since narrowed its guidelines, prohibiting calls for the death of a head of state. The company also said it does not condone violence against Russians.
In the past, Russia designated groups such as the Taliban and ISIS terrorist groups as “extremists,” like most world powers. However, newer additions have been Jehovah’s Witnesses and jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation.
Social Media Companies in Hot Water in US
Social media companies have found themselves in legal trouble in the United States as well. More than 30 U.S. states
joined a lawsuit against Instagram and its parent company Meta in October over claims the company damaged the mental health of its younger users.
In a federal
lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, which had support from 33 bipartisan attorneys general, the complainants accused Meta of deliberately implementing addictive features targeting younger children. Meta said it was “disappointed” with the lawsuits, claiming the states should instead work “productively” with them to protect younger people.
TikTok, owned by Beijing-based tech giant ByteDance, has also been in trouble with lawmakers in the United States. The app has already been banned from government devices over national security concerns.
In January, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) introduced the
No TikTok on United States Devices Act to prohibit TikTok from operating in the United States. The bill would ban commercial activity with ByteDance.
New York lawmakers also
announced new proposals to restrict what social media platforms can do with the personal information of those under 18 and minors’ use of addictive algorithms.
In an Oct. 11 press release, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, New York Attorney General Letitia James, state Sen. Andrew Gounardes, and state Assemblywoman Nily Rozic revealed two bills aimed at reducing the negative impacts of social media on under-18s.
The Epoch Times has contacted the Russian government and Meta for comment.
