RE: Payouts with zero votes? What's going on here?
Well the actual votes are on the blockchain, and as far as I can tell seem to be acting normally aside from being hidden on some frontends. So rest assured (as you can from my word) that on the lowest level everything is working as designed.
I don't really think these upvotes in particular reflect support for your speech. It seems more likely to me that this is an automated system just trying to gain curation rewards. I'd like to emphasize my uncertainty here; I'm not sure what their motivations are.
As far as Steempeak not being as consistent, it might just be that whatever blacklist they may have implemented is less strict about what to censor and when.
I share your sense of being alarmed. Censorship is something I care about greatly. It was one of the big motivators for me to start developing a frontend. It's first working title was actually Uncensor.
Sadly, my internet access has been interrupted, and only with the help of a kindly neighbor am I able to reply presently.
As a result I am unable to actually dig into these matters myself any further.
I'd be very interested in a frontend aimed at censorship resistance. That was my reason for visiting Steemit to begin with.
Thanks!
Well keep an eye out for my next development post then. Censorship resistance is a central design tenant of mine, insomuch as I can facilitate it with a frontend.
Maybe even check out some of my older posts if you're interested.
Followed for interests.
Thanks!