[throwllll]

I flag (using my non-throaway account) any article that only results in mob-and-pitchfork style discussion. Many comments in here are advocating that we should abandon the court and justice system (because its unfair to the victim, its too high requirements for conviction, ectra) in favor of just punishing the assumed guilty. I will keep flagging stories like this as long as that opinion still runs popular.

[tptacek]

Flagging stories because you think they're off-topic for HN, or should be because of the threads they'll create, is legit.

Using the flag button as a downvote button for stories you disagree with, while allowing stories on the same topics you do agree with, is an abuse.

[throwllll]

I find mob-and-pitchfork style of threads and articles to be off-topic for HN.

If someone posted an article about one of the accusers of JA and creating a mob-and-pitchfork threads against them, I would flag it equally the same as this one. If the only purpose of the submission is to attack people (see attack articles on Wikipedia for definition and concept), then its fail the first HN rule for the threads it will create, ie its not civil to have mob-and-pitchfork threads and its not something anyone would say in a face-to-face conversation with the accused or accuser. In a previous article discussion about JA, someone compared him to hitler. Do you think they would be perfectly fine say that in person?

>> any article that only results in mob-and-pitchfork style discussion > "while allowing stories on the same topics you do agree with"

If topic == mob-and-pitchfork; goto flag-article(). How could I have been be more clear in previous comment? All, any, and regardless if I like the person being attacked or not, I do not find such article to be civil and productive for discussion. I don't even find it productive for social change, as all it does is raising the tone and driving out those that social campaigns tries to convince. Left are those that are already convinces that they are right, flaming against each other.