Blizzard...

So, in case anyone hasn't heard, Blizzard banned the winner of the Hearthstone Grandmasters tournament for one year and retroactively took away his prize money because he spoke out in support of the Hong Kong protesters. source

A lot of these articles point to Blizzard protecting their business interests in China, which is a scummy thing to do when it means supporting a government that is actively engaged in ethnic cleansing and killing protesters. But Blizzard only gets about 5% of its revenue from China in the first place. So they are more interested in 5% revenue than democracy and safety for the people of Hong Kong.

In response, protesters have made Mei (an ethnically Chinese character) the symbol of their protest in the hopes that China will ban Overwatch in response. In addition between 12 and 30 Blizzard studios employees walked out and they covered up signs that had said "Think Globally" and "Every Voice Matters". Shockingly, in addition to massive fan backlash, Both Democrats and Republicans in congress have been condemning Blizzard's actions.

Though Blizzard points to its code of conduct as an excuse for their ban and prize forfeiture. Both actions go far beyond what is actually appropriate for such a violation.

I have already submitted to have my Blizzard account deleted, but what do you all think?

So something to keep in mind is that supporting Chinese industry does have a humanitarian impact on the country. There are a lot of families that depend on money coming into China to eat and stay housed and get educated. On the other hand, Blizzard doesn't add anything positive to the China, it is entirely a marketplace only. So for them to support the Chinese Government it means they are 100% trading humanitarian goals for profit. Now that being said, companies that export production to China aren't doing it for humanitarian reasons, but it would feel wrong to boycott them when they are doing some good. Also, I think people are starting to really get fed up with China's bullshit.

For the sake of argument (and purely for that - my heart aches for the Taiwanese), what obligation does a corporation have to actively support democracy?

As @DigitDaemon said, Blizzard is just a marketplace - they don't directly contribute to China's infrastructure or goods trade. Why is it that Blizzard is being held responsible for the actions the Chinese government takes, when all they are doing is what any corporation would do in their shoes, and try to retain a big part of their business?

Should the Beatles be villainized for the Manson Family murders? The Manson's were a source of revenue for them, and used their music as a spearhead for torturing and murdering people.

Should the inventor of the cotton gin be flamed for building something that was widely used by slavers on plantations?

Again, purely for the sake of argument, Blizzard's fire-from-the-hip response is pretty normal based on my experience with corporations and how they operate. What makes them any worse than any other company?

That's the question, isn't it? It's not illegal. We can't hold them to any tangible standard outside of that.

I can say we need an astrological cleansing and should kill all the Libras. Star sign is not a protected class.

I think that a large group of people are coming together and deciding that this violates the social contract that they hold the company Blizzard to, and that is what makes it wrong. I, personally, will make every effort to not support companies that make statements in defense of Chinese Government, because that violates the social contract I hold them to. I think everyone is balancing their own comfort with their desire to make a positive change and in this case, it has pushed people to say fuck comfort, this is more important than me, this is about human life, liberty and ultimately the unalienable right that every human being has to be in charge of their own life.

Fuck em. Period.

I don't accept what-aboutism arguments regarding whether or not a corporation is being held to a "fair standard". Not when the visibility of human rights abuses is what's at stake. Pin any easy corporate target to the wall if it means it moves the needle in the right direction regarding ethics in the tech industry.

Nothing else will give them pause when considering engaging in ethically objectionable business practices until the entire values system of the industry changes. And the only ones forcing them to reconsider those values is the court of public opinion and the threat of losing control of their workforces.