I don't think that's what's happening here. The flags are coming from users (as explained in
https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html). We can only guess why users flag things, but when I looked at the flagging histories, they didn't seem focused on this issue; rather they were the most common type of flag, from users who don't want to see flamewars or too much politics on HN. For example, here are other submissions flagged by the same users:
In L.A., a new vision of incarceration proves rehabilitation works - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38844740
The Myth of Meritocracy Runs Deep in American History - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38844240
Psychopathic men have more children, study finds - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38824962
Brexit has failed for UK, say clear majority of Britons – poll - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38817190
Losing weight without any stress - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38815866
Florida health care can now be denied based on moral, ethical, religious beliefs - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35941427
I'm not mentioning these to start arguments about whether or not they are on-topic for HN—some are, some not—but rather to give the flavor of what the user flags look like.
We sometimes turn off flags, and I've done so several times on this topic and posted quite a bit about why. However, HN is not a current affairs site, and it is a site that gets damaged when threads turn into flamewars. So we have to be careful about which threads to turn off flags on, and I don't think an outright advocacy piece is the best choice for that. It's all relative; there's no way to avoid flamewars on a topic like this; but some go to the inner circles of hell faster than others.
In L.A., a new vision of incarceration proves rehabilitation works - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38844740
The Myth of Meritocracy Runs Deep in American History - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38844240
Psychopathic men have more children, study finds - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38824962
Brexit has failed for UK, say clear majority of Britons – poll - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38817190
Losing weight without any stress - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38815866
Florida health care can now be denied based on moral, ethical, religious beliefs - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35941427
I'm not mentioning these to start arguments about whether or not they are on-topic for HN—some are, some not—but rather to give the flavor of what the user flags look like.
We sometimes turn off flags, and I've done so several times on this topic and posted quite a bit about why. However, HN is not a current affairs site, and it is a site that gets damaged when threads turn into flamewars. So we have to be careful about which threads to turn off flags on, and I don't think an outright advocacy piece is the best choice for that. It's all relative; there's no way to avoid flamewars on a topic like this; but some go to the inner circles of hell faster than others.