Ok, I don't think that way :) They are not and they shouldn't be equal. Negativity spreading makes people feel bad and "not upvoting" should be enough if you don't like something.
So if it's something you don't like just don't upvote. If it's really something hurts peoples feelings, abuse, bully etc. then you should downvote.
Simple as that ;)
Well, disagreeing with rewards aka upvotes, is also a vaild reason to downvote someone ^^
I do mostly only downvote abuse, so I get it. But everybody is still free to use their downvotes the way they want
I totally agree, I like talking on serious stuff that nobody really cares about. Thanks for the quality thought-exchange !PIZZA