It’s been 23 weeks since the first protest in Hong Kong sparked a global campaign. The pro-democracy movement continues in southern California, where university students and activists alike gathered in solidarity with Hong Kong.
Even gamers are getting in the mix. On Nov. 1, a group of 40 to 50 protesters gathered outside BlizzCon, an Anaheim gaming convention, to express their frustration to video game developer Blizzard Entertainment, reported The Orange County Register. Irvine-based Blizzard had notoriously banned a few well-known players for sharing their pro-Hong Kong views on the company’s various gaming platforms, according to CNet.
Although the OC Register wrote that company president J. Allen Brack apologized at the convention kickoff, organizations such as Freedom Hong Kong and Gamers for Freedom wanted Blizzard to remove all penalties against players who spoke out in favor of Hong Kong, and provide more transparency about the company’s policies.
Protesters in Hong Kong have been shot at, tear gassed and otherwise attacked, Dayton Young, a Gamers for Freedom organizer, told the OC Register.
“Gaming companies shouldn’t silence people who speak out about it,” he said.
Generally, pro-Hong Kong protests in America primarily sprout from college campuses. According to The Panther, students have organized at universities like UC Berkeley, UC Davis, Emerson College, Wesleyan University and now Chapman University — and the list keeps expanding.
“The pursuit of freedom, democracy, justice and the like entails not just locally or nationally but internationally,” Alexander Bay, the chair of Chapman University’s history department, told The Panther. “If there’s injustice anywhere, there’s a threat to justice here.”
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