If I may virtue signal for a moment, I'd just like to say that I'm a reasonably morally upstanding bear. I obey just laws and social norms. I don't go digging through your trash and leaving it strewn about your yard. I'm respectful to the creatures of this Earth - I haven't mauled anybody I wasn't trying to eat. I give to charity and vote based on the common interest.
So why am I shamed for doing or saying anything that might reveal I'm a decent bloke?
Me, a bear:
"I happen to think we shouldn't kill all Muslims."
Alt-Reich moron:
choking sounds "Virtue... virtue signalling! REEEEEEEEE!"
Honestly, I like it when people virtue signal because it lets me know their values and whether they're somebody I want to socialize or do business with. If you hold values I find despicable, why would I want anything to do with you?
In World War II, soldiers encountering each other in the field would signal their allegiance by using signs and countersigns ("flash/thunder"), or uttering a shibboleth ("lollapalooza") that the enemy would have difficulty pronouncing. Today, the enemy walks among us and shames anybody who would engage in discourse that might expose them for the vile hypocrites they are. Hypocrites, because the people criticizing virtue signalling are themselves engaged in virtue signalling to their in-group. Vile, because what the alt-right stands for is nothing more than indefensible brutality against their neighbor.
Always reject the frame of the enemy. If anybody accuses you of "virtue signalling," it means you're doing something good!