[jaytaylor]

I doubt it's explitly up to Dang, I remember seeing this same sort of thing back when PG was running the show too. And even if it is up to Dang's discretion..

Why would YC want to propagate negative content corresponding to their ventures?

As far as I'm aware, HN never promised to let us (the users) rule the roost this way. And they've never promised freedom from censorship.

To be clear, I don't mean any of this in a critical way. It simply is what it is.

[GFK_of_xmaspast]

I thought there was an announcement a few months back explicitly talking about editorial independence at HN.

[jaytaylor]

That's a good point! I also recall the announcement [0] and related HN discourse [1].

Reviewing it now, it looks to me like they declared editorial independence without going into much detail. I especially don't see anything about guaranteeing the preservation of things that may harm the YC or affiliated brands.

[0] http://blog.ycombinator.com/two-hn-announcements

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10298512