I don't believe for one second that response quality dropped because of an infrastructural change and remained degraded, unnoticed, for weeks. This simply does not pass the sniff test.
“I refuse to believe what the people who would know the best said, for no real reason except that it doesn’t feel right” isn’t exactly the level of considered response we’re hoping for here on HN. :)
There's a thousand and one reasons why a company valued in the billions, with the eyes of the world watching, would not be completely honest in their public response.