It’s just a dumb esport thing that’s been going on forever. I’m pretty sure no one is really serious about it but some ppl do say some pretty nasty stuff lol.
Not exactly raw population numbers, it's the size of the casual and pro playerbase, which would be a function of raw population, PPP, interest/ hype among other things
Historically EU and NA have had relatively big tac fps playerbases
Nowadays people don't need reasons to hate someone, just a crowd talking nonsense about someone is enough for 90% of people to act like they're in a herd, repeating the same movements and actions of the crowd, even if it doesn't make any sense...