I fully understand what you think that I don't and I'm not entirely convinced that Steemit data is stored on the BC. I know certainly that images and video are stored on IPFS and it's likely that data is being stored on Amazon's S3 storage, and if that is true, Steemit data is not stored on distributed storage and is controlled by a single entity. That's is not my argument though. I'm not saying the the flag has no legitimate justification for its existence. I equate "decentralization" to "unsensored," and like many others, never would expect downvoting to identify with censorship. My issue is with the abusive nature of it all. Downvoting can and should be appropriately used as a tool to identify wrongdoing, not to hide or punish personal opinion, or "censure" someone because of personality conflicts. That abuse in itself equates to restraint of opinion, which in effect is a form of censorship. Furthermore, illegal or illicit actions by others on the platform are legal issues and should never be handled by the membership. It is the responsibility of everyone on Steemit who has been witness to a crime to inform law enforcement. It is not the responsibility of members to be police, judge and executioner. I've read the Whitepaper and Steemit was not intended to be a battleground for trolls and malcontents. What is severly lacking on this platform is leadership, and without leaders all you have are followers. Oh, and for what it is worth, hypocrite @berniesanders should be along shortly to downvote you and I for self-upvote abuse!