Language and symbolism are fluid. Words can change in meaning over time and the only real metric of language is current societal moods and standards over it. Some become acceptable. Some become vulgar. Such may be considered the case when a fan in the Overwatch League Arena was recently asked not to use the “OK” hand gesture due to recent uses of it in white power movements.

The issue occurred on April 4, 2019 when, during an interview with Los Angeles Gladiators Gui-un "Decay" Jang following the match with Shanghai Dragons, a fan insistently flashed the sign on camera directly behind the interview. The “OK” hand sign has been used for plenty of harmless shenanigans in the past, including punchies games, harmless memes, and such. Unfortunately, it has also taken on a more problematic connotation as a white power symbol propagated by alt-right faces, trolling communities, and, far more notably, flashed in the courtroom by the New Zealand Mosque Shooter. Likely due to these recent events, the fans were approached and asked not to use the symbol by Overwatch League staff. You can see the instance below.

For their part, the fan and a friend stepped forward on Twitter to claim no ill intent was meant and they were unaware of the issues currently surrounding the gesture. As mentioned above, the OK symbol has been used for plenty of things - a simple “OK” for instance. Ty “SteelTrainer” Deacy claims it was part of an old “gottem” game that he and friends have played regularly. Indeed, many should probably know about the under-the-belt OK that gets you a punch in the arm if you look. Indeed, it was used very recently in this connotation in Mortal Kombat 11 for Johnny Cage. Other fans have also come out to share slight confusion at Blizzard’s take on the “OK” handsign matter.

I was the fan throwing up the ?, and I want to apologize for not knowing the context behind it. The superfans have been using it for the old "gottem" game all season, but now that we know the context it is unacceptable.

Thank you for bringing this up. It will not happen again. https://t.co/kjHyUreV3i

— Ty 'SteelTrainer' (@SteelTrainer_OW) April 5, 2019

Unfortunately, with the context as it is, it’s not highly surprising to see Blizzard’s arguably stiff take on the matter. The issue was brought to them by a fan who saw it on stream, and Blizzard has a policy in their arena rules about reporting offensive or vulgar issues in order to maintain a safe environment for players, staff, and fans. It is the unfortunate fact that because of events like the NZ Mosque shooting, the “OK” symbol falls under this category and corporate entities are forced to respond to it.

Was SteelTrainer acting harmlessly? Probably, outside of a fun little jib, but it really more marks another thing that organizations don’t get to take chances on - another thing ruined for the time being by people who actually used it for vile purposes. Hopefully we can still enjoy Overwatch League Stage 2 and the likes of the fiery Paris Eternal start in spite of a complete bummer like this.

h/t - Rod "Slasher" Breslau