I think the only problem with downvoting/flagging is that it isn't anonymous. I would be foolish to downvote one of the whales when they can basically ruin me in retaliation.
Downvotes should either be equal, regardless of SP, or should be anonymous.
I’m still worried that it would be used as a disagreement mechanic, rather than a reward control mechanic.
Example here is that someone with a huge amount of voting weight comes in, disagrees with the politics of David’s videos and decides to make it a bit of a personal challenge to see that they are downvoted.
well yeah - that's certainly a concern.
Fact of the matter is - SteemIt is largely self moderated. So if you post crap - there's nobody aroudn to clean up the mess - and it's up to the users to vote/flag.
But you're right - even now - there's an issue where it doesn't pay to post controversial content - the platform is more or less censored, even if not by design, or by intent.
For example, if some of the whales have strong opinions towards a particular inclination, they can drown out any alternate views.