... yes, not a problem unless you are the unfortunate ant!
Anyway, although the out of context statistic is interesting... what is it based upon? Is it weighted by stake or number... the outgoing and incoming accounts... all these little details are a bit important. A 0.5% of all downvotes by itself is the sort of thing is most beloved of marketers and politicians!
It sounds good, but vague numbers is a great way of hiding detail.
Thanks, I will see if I can find further details, or if anyone has published anything more recently. However, I do still hold that it is nigh on impossible for an account to defend against a committed downvoter (of significant stake, not the little bot ones..). The only way is to weather it out and hope that others find it worthwhile to help (out even notice...).
Also possible, but that at least doesn't detract from the rewards of the author.. and it can be reported to steemcleaners, who have the backing and reputation to dent the spammer. Plus, spamming that gets overwhelming would also attract the attention of larger accounts as it does slow the network down!