[dang]

You've entirely imagined that.

Actually your comment is a textbook example of what I described. HN makes this easy, because no matter what you believe about HN, you can always find examples that appear to support it. Not that most people bother to try, or even make the simplest effort at factual truth (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16019042).

[olfactory]

Based on what I know about moderation, the penalty on the story may have been overruled by upvotes or reversed by moderators. This does happen occasionally.

And by authoritarianism I do not mean politically authoritarian views, simply authoritarianism applied to moderation decisions (having iron fisted idea police ensuring the quality of HN discussion).