Sad to see this abuse happening still. The flagging issue has been a personal concern with me for a while now. If Steemit is going to be a bastion of free speech, then the flagging abuse must end. I am encouraged as of late to see that Dan has recently taken action concerning some of this abuse, and I applaud his actions. But I feel that the flagging function needs to be taken down for both minnow and whale alike. It should, in my opinion, be reserved for administrators only acting upon clearly stated and established community guidelines. The random, subjective and unpredictable flagging that I have seen as of late reflects a wild west notion of vigilante justice that is just plain wrong on a platform that claims to be supportive of individual liberty and opposed to censorship. Again, in my opinion, the flagging function has been abused so badly that it clearly should go as soon as possible.