Have you considered that they may be people with different opinions than you? Reddit is one thing, but Hacker News does not allow downvotes until a user earns

Have you considered that they may be people with different opinions than you? Reddit is one thing, but Hacker News does not allow downvotes until a user earns 500 karma. That's a high bar to cross for a bot. I also don't see where I subscribed to any "whataboutisms." My point is that you shouldn't attribute to botnets what can be adequately explained by the existence of people who disagree with you.