Lichess and Russian Aggreesion

I just opened accidentally lichess.org/blog/Yie1MhIAACAAk6OQ/lichess-statement-on-the-war-in-ukraine . While it's still seems to be mostly correct, maybe it's a good time to review the part concerning showing Russian flags on profiles? For example, there is an alternative version of the Russian flag with the red stripe replaced with a second white. This version of the flag is used by the Russian minority who disagree with the Putin (aka Hujlo) regime. Same for the Belarus, there is an alternative Belarus flag (red and white) used by the opposition.

I still find it funny that Chess.com and Lichess both think that censoring the Russian flag has any effect on the war.

@Neco_Arc_Lurking said in #2:
> I still find it funny that Chess.com and Lichess both think that censoring the Russian flag has any effect on the war.
I aggree!

And even funnier is that anyone thinks banning Russian players will accomplish anything.I' m sure Mad Vlad couldn't care less.

Those who disagree with the government in Russia use it. You don't need to pay attention to Russian people.

Don't ban the Russians, ban the commies.

I generally agree with #1, but not sure whether it is worth to invite some new flags. Ban of russian flag as the thing is more reasonable solution imo.
And I strongly disagree with whining that it "will not change anything so let's leave everything as is".
Because:
1. Flag is a symbol. In our case, the symbol of aggression and war.
2. It is not putin's war, it's russia's and russians' war.
3. It is very russian way of thinking that since we all are small people, we can't change anything and therefore there is no need to do anything at all.

There are 3 points I want to share, it might be rude but it is the truth
1- what will you win by this, like if the war will stop or Russia relies on lichess for food... let's be honest no one cares about what they do
2- why, this point has 2 points, a person is free to agree or disagree with any political decision or even stay neutral so a player is free to agree with what Russia is doing without getting banned, and who knows, there might be more there than what we know (kindly note I am nor with or against)
3- why just Russia, there are many oppressed countries like Palestine, why not give an option with a censored flag for there st**id blue flag or remove it, this just shows there are hundreds of causes but you choose to see this one over the other (to not get deep to politics the big boys want Russia to lose thus focusing media on it while wars in ME does not benefit them except for selling weapons )

There's all kinds of things to be said for each option, including temporarily disabling flags of countries that are engaged in mass political murder. I agree that it's (probably too) difficult to get on the same page globally on which country is doing such things to an extent that warrants such disabling.

When people put a flag there, I think it's often to simply denote where they live, to group up with people who share their language and so on. I think it's valuable if Russians too are allowed to keep doing that. That flag precedes Putin and it will surpass him, so it's not completely fair to equate the flag with his regime and aggression. It's different when someone with that flag start shouting certain things, that situation is terribly complicated to moderate.

Let's also observe that the mods can't do it right, all the options before them are bad, including inaction. I think the social features on LiChess are interesting and valuable. Thorny issues, like determining what is and isn't appropriate, that puts a strain on moderators, imo too much so now. If they quit, LiChess will probably consider turning off social features instead of allowing the place to turn into 4chan. Moderation is not optional, and we need to consider they should have a reasonable task. Smart rules can help with that.

For the question why ban flags, they just indicate geographical location, I have a 3-point answer. First, in a totalitarian state the flag is more than a geography. It's a symbol of domination and supremacy. For example, when Russians occupy a new territory they start with forcing local population to take Russian passports and citizenship. They are not afraid that new voters will try to reverse something because nobody really counts the votes, any elections there are just a show with 80% victory of Putin guaranteed. Russian flag is a symbol of aggression. By the way, the alternative (no red stripe) flag is supported by Kasparov too :). Second, majority of Russians have no idea what really happens abroad. Exactly as Germans in 1930s-40s they are sure that the people of the world love them, their army fights nazis and liberates the world. We need to show them that something is wrong with their state. And third, many Ukrainians disappeared from this side simply because they were killed by Russians or fight for their freedom, or maybe had to run from the Russian army. In the same time the flags of murderers are allowed as nothing happened.