The flagging was done by users. HN doesn't want political arguments, which this is turning into. It's well within Y Combinator's rights to create a user-control

The flagging was done by users. HN doesn't want political arguments, which this is turning into. It's well within Y Combinator's rights to create a user-controlled off-topic flagging system. The moderators can restore this if they want to and cancel the flags.