> HN readers consider this event interesting
> and worth discussing (as evidenced by this
> thread).
Correction - some readers consider this event interesting and worth discussing. As evidence elsewhere, other readers are flagging the story. One of the mods[0] has stated clearly[1] that it's being flag-killed.
> There is an obvious effort to either censor
> or manipulate the system ...
Nope - standard HN reader actions doing what the system is designed for.
Its absurd to flag-kill stories with no upvotes. If something is taking up 10 spots on the front page and / or leading to shitty discussion...yeah go flag it up.
Clearly there were 600+ people who upvoted the topic of this thread, and a group of people who are censoring HN.
They're not flagging crap off the front page, they are censoring the NEW page.
I'm not sure how to conclude that's anything other than wrong...?? It may only take a couple of flags to kill a story but lets say it takes 5-6....who the hell are the 5-6 people trolling the NEW page killing stories?
At what hour on a weekend night? That's not a co-incidence. Its pretty absurd to think that's legitimate or healthy behaviour.
If the mods want to kill stuff...whatevr..."HN reader actions doing what the system is designed for" is a broken system.
Its basically a bunch of truthers an bullies having their way. I don't see how its fairly characterized as "guardian angels" looking out for the integrity of the site or its discussions.
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[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=dang
[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8711660