While I agree with the sentiment that is being expressed here (i.e. it's "wrong"). I can't help but think about the fact that he ... simply broke the rules. There is a clear clause in the ToS that states basically "You are working for us. If you say anything that can damage our reputation, we can cease working with you." Which, to me, makes a whole lot of sense to have as a clause.
How they choose to enforce the rules is completely at Blizzard's digression though. There's giving a slap on the wrist and then there is banning the player and the casters. That sends a pretty clear message. If a player had advocated for gay rights, that would've technically still broken the rules, yet somehow I doubt Blizzard would've cared much if at all.
Esports used to be entirely privately-run one-off events where authoritarianism like this wasn't possible. This new era of centralized esports hasn't really paid off for anyone but Riot and even they readily admit that their esports department loses money.
Probably, but that's not saying much. Anything a player does could in theory damage their reputation (e.g. something ridiculous like saying you like AMD over Nvidia can damage Blizzard's reputation with Nvidia fans). I think the fact that they're choosing to exercise their ToS right in this case does speak to their values rather than it being them just "enforcing rules".
That's like, totally your opinion. Blizzard has a huge base in China that is largely invisible to us. As a large (gaming) company you want to stay as neutral as possible, or at least that's what I imagine what large PR firms would consult Blizzard to do.
I’m sure allowing this wouldn’t do much for their reputation as a company that wants to trade in China. Not everything has to be a forum for political speech, and trying to force everything into being one is just a deceptive way of trying to force your views onto others.
