People probably realized they could make more money just upvoting trending articles.... no financial incentive to downvote trending news.
Consider checking out our group on Gli.ph MinnowsUnite were above 100 members strong now!
https://steemit.com/minnowsunite/@cryptohustlin/newbies-welcome-minnowsunite-chatroom-mobile-app-w-notifications-available
I've only ever downvoted obvious bot posts, and I don't really want to flag a post to test, but it seems weird there are suddenly no flags (at least that I can see).