It is plain to everybody else that vote spam bots create a less free and open ecosystem by manipulating the incentive structure in a way that is perverse.

Yet, you complain this move means Steemit is no longer

free, open and decentralized

These changes to make vote spamming less powerful will be for the better, it reduces the rewards of vote bots that are ultimately leeching off the community, not contributing, and defeating any semblance of democracy the place otherwise has.