You should know that on HN you&#x27;re speaking with the voice of the platform. You have a right to your own voice; they have a right not to give you theirs.<p>Usually though, the rationale for &quot;downvoting&quot; (really flagging) is that somebody is being unreasonably negative. I think it&#x27;s rare that a well-researched non-disparaging comment is flagged more than a couple times.<p>We have all said things on HN that have been flagged, we all know it feels bad. That doesn&#x27;t mean there shouldn&#x27;t be moderation.