
Ask HN: Why are all posts about David Koch's death being flagged on HN? - bobster1249
David Koch was one of the most interesting businessmen of our time. Sure, some people don&#x27;t agree with his views. But, why are ALL posts about his death being flagged and subsequently removed? None of them seem to be violating any of the rules. This is an honest question!<p>Examples:<p>- https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=20777811<p>- https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=20777292
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sp332
[https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html)

 _Off-Topic: Most stories about politics, or crime, or sports, unless they 're
evidence of some interesting new phenomenon.... If they'd cover it on TV news,
it's probably off-topic._

~~~
bobster1249
I'm not a fan of Koch but I don't find this answer satisfying. I really hate
to say this, but, it sort-of _feels_ like HN is censoring news.

I would think the death of a prominent business figure would be relevant to
our community. But I guess not.

~~~
ceejayoz
HN isn't censoring it. User are flagging it. Because it's off-topic.

~~~
defertoreptar
Large community sites need never censor anything, then. For any subject even
slightly controversial, there will always be at least some users
flagging/reporting to justify removing it.

Wouldn't you consider selective enforcement a type of censorship?

~~~
ceejayoz
It's not selective enforcement.

HN users get to vote what shows up on the front page. A certain ratio of
votes-to-flags triggers removal. It's no more censorship than voting for a
politician censors their opponent.

~~~
defertoreptar
I guess you're right, then, if it's truly always a result of user reporting
and HN never overrides that. I know that's not the case for Reddit, so kudos
to HN.

~~~
dang
Sometimes we override user flags but as far as I know moderators haven't
touched any of these submissions.

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WillPostForFood
What interesting discussion is there to be had about it?

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randcraw
It's hard to imagine that any discussion of Koch's legacy won't be political,
which is something HN's moderators generally prefer to avoid.

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lostmsu
To answer your question: I personally flag all death articles, unless it is
sudden as in important tech person dying young. For any other case there is
generally nothing to talk about, as there are no actionable consequences.
Though some people like to praise accomplishments now and then.

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brodouevencode
Every few months or so a new "yes the Koch brothers really are that evil" post
makes the rounds, but interestingly not here (HN). Seems that the family is
off limits.

~~~
brodouevencode
I take that back: there have been plenty of posts in the past about the Koch
family, of which haven't been largely positive.

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10337014](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10337014)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14833773](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14833773)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11012196](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11012196)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12467135](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12467135)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17377055](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17377055)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17552286](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17552286)

Some of these have been flagged as well.

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threeseed
"Some people don't agree his views"

Pretty sure it will be closer to 100% amongst the HN community.

~~~
purple_ducks
I think you underestimate how much libertarian kool aid has been consumed by
the HN community.

~~~
whamlastxmas
Your downvotes are funny because there really are plenty of people on all
sides on HN

