I agree with everything you said but it's not what I'd think of as censorship since the posts are all still on the blockchain. It's more deprioritization and a form of arbitrary punishment. In any case it's not how I would use my Steem Power because it takes away from the user experience but doesn't seem to add anything. If I vote to take something away from someone else then it damages the user experience not just for that someone else but also for everyone who witnessed me do it.
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Imagine this: You publish a post which says only this: "I need money to buy a new car" and some people who know you personally upvote your post just because they like you. I see this happening and negate those upvotes. You, as the author of the post, are obviously not happy about it but does it really damage the user experience for everyone who witnessed me doing it? I guess not. For them I'm a hero who prevented some kind of abuse. And it was an abuse by those who upvoted, not by the author of the post.
I have argued this fact as well about it being in the blockchain. I am fairly technical and can determine how to get at it if I want. Likewise, if the government deems certain things are banned and locks them in a vault. They technically still exist it is just difficult to get to them.
So in effect the crushing hammer blow of a down vote can be very similar to shoving something in a vault. Many people will be unable to view it. Perhaps someone will make a reversesteemit.com or something where the trending page and popularity is 100% the opposite. You'd have to wade through a ton of spam but you might see these posts that were splattered. The problem is this shouldn't be being done for opinion.
Except it doesn't just affect that piece of text. It harms the author.
But that isn't how the downvotes are being used. Authors are being down voted because some people think their content didn't deserve that big of a reward. It's not like there are posts of people saying "I want a car, upvote me" and them getting huge $20,000 payouts. I haven't seen an example like that, have you?
But even in that case, it's not like you are a hero for blocking other people from receiving rewards. It's more you can use that as an example of an excessive payment to someone who doesn't really need it, but at the same time in other instances the person really could need it, and the same downvote should make you a villain like it would make you a hero right?
And if we are going to downvote based on who we think doesn't need any more money, well then what is the total amount in payouts that each author should be allowed to get before we collectively determine it's justified to start blocking them from getting any more money?
Agreed. I use my downvote in cases of stalking, abuse, scams and the like. While I dislike people spamming their own content within my posts, I tend not to downvote them, but instead, write a warning, letting them know I will not read their posts if they spam them into comments. I think the whales misused their power and slammed innocent minnows who were struggling to get their posts seen. Giving people explanations instead of downvotes is a the proper thing to do in the cases of minnows seeking more exposure. Or at least if you downvote, let the person know why you're doing it, so they can learn for the future. This is basic emotional intelligence and proper use of empathic learning and teaching. Downvoting without explaning is a bad move and it is also insensitive. This only applies to people doing innocent self-promotion.
In the case of abusers, stalkers, and and scammers, of course, a heavy hand is necessary.
Agreed @stellabella, I came across a someone commenting on a couple of posts this morning. The person wasn't spamming but his/her opinion that was being expressed was not in what would be considered to be conventional thinking. I didn't agree with most of what was said but did notice that some people had been flagging the person's posts. I looked further and found that the person had been flagged to the point he/she left the platform.
If that sort of bullying off the platform can take place using the post flag, I shudder to think what people like that would do with downvotes. Some may use downvotes reasonably but I suspect that would not be the majority.
Better to either respectfully express disagreement or move on than to allow anyone the power to downvote with impunity. The misuse of the post flags are bad enough. IMO