Silences are starting steps, but if you can’t demonstrate good behavior, Blizzard will suspend or ban your access to the game. I will also say that Blizzard is taking harder steps to crack down on abusive chat and other forms of disruptive gameplay.
What you may perceive as abusive or not is not as important as knowing how you treat other players. If you have to say anything negative to another player then chances are you should probably take a break from playing. Granted it’s okay to provide strong, positive constructive criticism to others and it’s easy to do so without trash-talking them.