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October 19, 2019 04:34 pm

Blizzard Criticized By Bipartisan Group of US Lawmakers (Including Ron Wyden, Marco Rubio, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez)

"If Blizzard wanted to keep politics out of its eSports scene, the Hearthstone publisher has failed miserably in just about every regard," reports Forbes. After suspending a player for his pro-Hong Kong protest, Blizzard faced a backlash which Forbes describes as "swift," "fierce," and "almost universal. From across the political spectrum, from socialist left to alt-right, gamers were incensed."Earlier today, Ron Wyden (D, Oregon) and Marco Rubio (R, Florida) signed a bipartisan letter addressed to Activision CEO Bobby Kotick, urging the company to reverse its decision to ban Blitzchung. The letter was co-signed by Co-signed by Congress members Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D, NY), Mike Gallagher (R, WI) and Tom Malinowski (D, NJ)... The Blizzard backlash could have been avoided entirely if Blizzard had placed principles over profits, according to Fight For The Future Deputy Director, Evan Greer, who said in statement: "Decisions about how to moderate online content are some of the most important decisions that humans are making right now. Full stop... I've seen a lot of Internet outrage in my time. This feels different. People are setting aside their differences and working together to organize protests at BlizzCon, reach out to gaming companies and demand that they take a stand for free expression, and put pressure on companies generally to not cave to authoritarian demands. It's a good reminder that the Internet still knows how to fight for freedom." It's great to see Congress and other community leaders outside the gaming community weigh in on this matter, though whether any of it will have any impact on Blizzard's decision remains to be seen. The real question is whether boycotts will hold enough sway over the company to alter its course. After all, there's plenty of money to be made in China. VentureBeat notes that the same group had also sent a separate letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook criticizing Apple's decision to remove an app from its store at the request of China.

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