The chat mute (squelch) has been automated and in the game since 2007. Blizzard has never once tried to hide this and they’ve admitted it’s a thing dozens of times. They’ve been adamant that suspensions or bans are not automated from player reports for the entirety of this game’s existence. Chat mutes and account suspensions/bans are not the same thing and conflating them and putting them on the same level is disingenuous to say the least.
May of 2007, the automatic squelch from right-click reports is announced and implemented:
https://web.archive.org/web/20070528080211/http://www.wow-europe.com/en/info/faq/squelch.html