Someone replied on that other thread that it's more than likely users flagging it.
The cynic in me thinks that there's quite a few "negative pr" posts that name corporations or specific companies that end up getting flagged but that could be a coincidence (biased by the recent media/pr firms that astroturf so I could be wrong).
I believe "Ask HN" type threads tend to get routed downstream faster, while links are held on the homepage longer. (That one did not have an "Ask HN" tag, but was just a question posted.)
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25917798
The cynic in me thinks that there's quite a few "negative pr" posts that name corporations or specific companies that end up getting flagged but that could be a coincidence (biased by the recent media/pr firms that astroturf so I could be wrong).