This is a big problem with the flag system - it constantly gets abused as a "I hate this person's opinion" button. It's very common to see comments flagged to death simply because they expressed an unpopular opinion (especially about politics), even though the comments are perfectly polite and on-topic for the thread. I keep show dead on and vouch for comments when I see they have been shouted down in this way, but unfortunately the user behavior is deeply ingrained and unlikely to go away.
i downvote comments that some might interpret as “i disagree with this” downvoting, but in reality, i downvote comments that shoehorn in a contentious opinion only loosely related to the topic, usually because the commenter has an axe to grind. i also downvote comments that feel astroturf-adjacent—those that echo a common but tiresome sentiment, especially when it’s not well-founded in facts but instead regurgitated as a talking point pushed by billionaire-owned corporate media to an audience that doesn’t always critically examine the narratives being fed to them.
i want HN to have curious and interesting conversation founded in objective facts. the previously desscribed style of commenting is not that, so i will downvote it
