Is there any reason to think it was flagged by moderators? It wasn't removed from the site prior to the author deleting it. It seems more likely it was flagged

Is there any reason to think it was flagged by moderators? It wasn't removed from the site prior to the author deleting it. It seems more likely it was flagged by users or just downvoted. In which case what would you suggest, should the mods make special rules that boost content critical of HN, rather than just letting the user votes and flagging play out?