It means that a number of users hit the "flag" button, but not yet enough to kill the thread. And what does that mean? Probably that several users considered

It means that a number of users hit the "flag" button, but not yet enough to kill the thread. And what does that mean? Probably that several users considered this off-topic, and (under current circumstances) to be political, and more likely to result in a flamewar than in a useful discussion.