Please don't impute astroturfing or shillage. It degrades discussion and is usually mistaken. If you're worried about it, email us and we'll look at the data.
https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
We always look for evidence when people are worried, and we take action, such as banning accounts, when we find it.
Frankly, though, the greater danger—orders of magnitude greater—is users' tendency to assume that other users must be astroturfing, or shills, bots, or spies, just because they hold opposing views. The truth is that HN is divided on divisive issues, just like society at large, all the more because it is a majority international community.
That is why the site guidelines ask you not to post comments like this. The attempted cure is more toxic than the seeming disease.
I've written about this a ton if anyone wants it: https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&dateRange=all&type=comme...