Okay, I understand. I agree that the Hacker News comment system isn't optimal. Downvotes shouldn't hide a comment. Unpopular opinions shouldn't be suppressed. I

Okay, I understand. I agree that the Hacker News comment system isn't optimal. Downvotes shouldn't hide a comment. Unpopular opinions shouldn't be suppressed. I'm not sure how the flag-functionality works, but if it can hide a comment without moderator input, then I'm all for replacing it with a "report"-function. Too many times one sees throwaway accounts being used for expressing possibly unpopular thoughts. I can only imagine how many comments weren't written, because somebody was afraid of downvotes and losing the good standing of his account. Personally I too have started writing a couple comments and not posted them in the end, because I was afraid of downvotes and the associated consequences. Having to think like that doesn't exactly help to make HN a diverse and interesting place.