The main reason it remains is because it allows whales to control the content.
It allows everyone the same.
As an example, lets say I took offense at your thoughtful and in depth comment because I feared it weakened my position.
All I have to do is flag your comment and nobody will look at it. Because I have a bigger wallet than you there is nothing you can do about it.
People can still and still do look at it, I've been flagged by bots a few times now, and people still look and respond to your comment, it doesn't mean nobody will look at it.
He can still do something about it, he can spam that comment, he can make a post about how his comment got flagged, he could also simply ridicule your flag and maybe he could even convince you otherwise.
Nobody will look at your comment because they will assume you are just another spammer saying something like "nice flowol me and i bak you flowol" Dissenting view eliminated.
That's not true, people still look at those comments, it's in human nature to click buttons that say "reveal".
Just try copying and pasting some b-grade porn and posting it like the whale at the top of this comments thread does all the time.
I suspect that unlike him, you would find yourself flagged very rapidly!
Flagging serves one major purpose - protecting the interests (maintaining the control) of whales