Hacker News Reader

A little example: I’ve used the site for a little over 4 years but don’t usually post or comment. If I do comment, it’s something really specific or to try and help clear a misunderstanding so usually low karma amounts. I regularly participate through flagging and upvotes but only have ~50 karma so I still can’t downvote and will likely never be able to.

Not saying it shouldn’t be this way, but downvotes are heavily biased toward people who regularly post or comment.

Another example: I have this account since 2015 and I started reading HN years before. I still can't downvote.

That's fair; I am also only using supposition.