Is there something HN could do to discourage this?
User flagging of articles is the existing mechanism.
It works pretty well unless, perhaps ironically in regard to the Fifth Circuit ruling, the moderators deliberately disable flags to allow the submission leeway.
Or unless users who dislike that sort of thread don’t flag it.
As an aside, a few years ago during the political silly season, HN tried banning political articles completely.
That lasted less than a week.
Anyway, the nature of that type of topic is to spark dumpster fires in the comments.
The simplest thing that might solve your immediate displeasure is avoiding the temptation to walk down the alley.
User flagging of articles is the existing mechanism.
It works pretty well unless, perhaps ironically in regard to the Fifth Circuit ruling, the moderators deliberately disable flags to allow the submission leeway.
Or unless users who dislike that sort of thread don’t flag it.
As an aside, a few years ago during the political silly season, HN tried banning political articles completely.
That lasted less than a week.
Anyway, the nature of that type of topic is to spark dumpster fires in the comments.
The simplest thing that might solve your immediate displeasure is avoiding the temptation to walk down the alley.
Good luck.