Some actions are already taken.

@randowhale claims that he will use any SP people send him for downvoting the abusers and even pay you back 85% of its value in SBD. Good luck finding him awake though; he returns most transfers if he is not willing to trade.

@steemcleaners are tasked to use their voting power for downvoting spam and self-votes. They even reward those who report abusers once a month.

They are not enough obviously, but it's a start. If more whales use their power for downvoting instead of hoarding STEEM, then the platform can be saved.