Facebook has explained that the account of Ramzan Kadyrov had been disabled because he was subject to US sanctions.
"We became aware and have now confirmed that the accounts appear to be maintained by or on behalf of parties who appear on the U.S. Specially Designated Nationals List and thus, subject to U.S. trade sanctions. For this reason, Facebook has a legal obligation to disable these accounts," the company said in a statement.
The statement comes a week after the United States imposed sanctions against five Russian nationals including Ramzan Kadyrov under the Magnitsky Act, a decision slammed by the head of the Chechen Republic.
READ MORE: Chechen Leader on Sanctions: US Cannot Forgive Me for Fight Against Terrorists
Following the move, several accounts of Kadyrov on US social media platforms have been blocked for unknown seasons. Russia's media regulator Roskomnadzor said on Monday it would send an official inquiry on the reasons for the ban if the social media representatives failed to provide explanations in the next few days.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that this ban caused some concerns.
Magnitsky Act
In 2012, the United States adopted the Magnitsky Act, which was named after Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, imposing sanctions against Russian officials Washington believes are responsible for his death, allegations repeatedly denied by Moscow. In 2015, the US Senate adopted the Global Magnitsky Act, which expands the Russia-specific sanctions over alleged human rights violations and "corruption" to other countries.
In response to the Magnitsky Act, Russia issued its own blacklist that includes US officials linked to human rights violations, some of whom were involved in the construction and maintenance of the infamous detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, sanctions imposed by the Magnitsky Act amounted to an unjustified and politically motivated initiative, after the United States added five Russian individuals to its Specially Designated Nationals list for alleged violations of the legislation, including the Russian Investigative Committee's head.
Magnitsky was a lawyer at the London-based Hermitage Capital Management hedge fund. He was arrested in Moscow in 2008 on charges of tax evasion and later died of heart failure while in prison. An official investigation into his death was closed due to lack of criminal evidence.
