He has since changed his mind: https://xkcd.com/1357/
I don't think it's unfair to presume that the author wasn't considering "people" to be "nations" in this context.
Of course he knew perfectly well that "the people" are giant corporations. But because he agreed with the censorship at the time, he chose to frame it as somehow democratic.
You might notice the part where the people who offended china are lauded and the cowardly companies are being lambasted for failing to stand up to china.
You've made a very convincing argument - if those that are censored are afterwards lauded, then the lauding means they're not being censored. But if they're condemned, that means it's people refusing to listen - again not censorship. And if they're neither lauded nor condemned, because no-one heard of them because the censorship was successful, well then we don't even talk about it. No matter what happens, it's not censorship!
What if instead of china he started talking about how white people need to start driving the lesser races out? Should blizzard still be required to associate with him? Is anything less than business as normal too much of an impingement on his rights?
What happened to him is just business. If you don't like it (I don't), then blame capitalism (I do).
I guess this employee also acted like a piece of crap and deserved it. Or does that comic only apply when he agrees with the censorship?