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    Fending off 'provocateurs’, RRQ, Blacklist urge fans not to ‘fight fire with fire’

    Blacklist's IG account taken down during height of MPLI finals
    Nov 8, 2021
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    PHOTO: (From Left) Blacklist, RRQ/Twitter

    AT THIS weekend’s MPL: Invitational, Philippine team Blacklist International and Indonesian team RRQ fell short in their campaigns, with Onic Esports emerging as eventual champion.

    Blacklist fended off RRQ in the semis with a 2-1 victory, but ultimately succumbed to Indonesia’s Onic, managing to take only one game in the best-of-five finals.

    At one point in the hard-fought grand finals day on Sunday, November 7, the Blacklist International Instagram account went offline — apparently by fans who mass-reported the account and had it temporarily taken down.

    At 6:20 p.m. yesterday, the team posted an explanation on Facebook and Twitter.

    Without going into details, the Tier One-backed team told fans, “Our Instagram account is currently down but don't fret, we're working on getting it back!”

    Without directly addressing what was going on, the team reminded fans to “not fight fire with fire and send hate towards any teams or fanbases.”

    Its accompanying social card also showed messages of support from fans. “Don’t mind the negative comments on IG,” said one. “They are just provocateurs, they are not supporters of RRQ or anyone.”

    Another wrote: “[P]lease ignore the comments on your Instagram posts that contain a lot of hate speech that leads to fights. [T]hey are just provocateurs who want to ruin the world of esports.”

    Blacklist International also posted a message in Bahasa, which, rendered into English via Google Translate, read, “We also want to thank all the Indonesian fans and other international fans of the Indonesian team and other international teams who showed their support and sent us love. Welcome to Blacklist Agents!”

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      Blacklist International at MPLI.

      RRQ decries provocateurs

      A few hours later, the official Twitter account of RRQ decried the social media attack, also labeling those behind it as “provocateurs.”

      “We’re dealing with a bunch of haters since the last season. But now, we’re dealing with provocateur[s] too,” the team wrote on Twitter.

      “We'll take this seriously. We uphold the principle of sportsmanship and want to build better community for all of us.”

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      In addition, the team posted screenshots of IG story from Andrian (@rrq_ap), CEO and co-founder of the Indonesian esports organization. The translation of the screenshot reads, in part:

      “There is an evil scenario of a group of people who want to do a black campaign against the RRQ team. On behalf of @teamrrq, I strongly condemn unsportsmanlike actions, especially outside the competition area.

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      “The RRQ team will carry out internal discussions to continue this matter to the legal realm so that these provocateurs can be processed according to applicable law.

      “Many fake accounts with ig on behalf of RRQ who show off their IG account reports. They really know who they are trying to slander... Netizens pls be smart.”

      As of posting, Blacklist International’s Instagram can be found at @blacklistmlbb, which seems to be a temporary account, as its most recent post before November 7 was from June.

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      PHOTO: (From Left) Blacklist, RRQ/Twitter
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