The Steem Blockchain or "Steemit" is not censoring anyone
Just a quick one as of recent discussions. The Steem Blockchain is used via various user interfaces by people that produce content, engage with others, vote for content - some people are "only" investors - and investors is what we really need. But that is a different topic.
The people active in this community are allowed to post and express their opinion - no censorship at all - NONE. This is good, there is no central institution that is censoring anything. The community is taking care of the reward pool and the individual's success by voting up (like a Facebook Like) or voting down aka flag. A flag has been designed to support the community especially by protecting the reward pool when people are not in agreement with certain post payouts. If you are interested why I write this read on.
Other common reasons to flag or down vote which are commonly accepted by the community are:
- (as said) Disagreement on rewards
- Hate speech
- Abuse (including Spamming and Scamming)
General rules for Downvotes
Well there are no official rules but if you look at the official Steem FAQs you find this:
What are the valid reasons for downvoting?
Users are allowed to downvote for any reason that they want. There are many users in the community who recommend only using the downvote on posts that are abusive. It is up to you if you want to follow this etiquette.
Does a downvote mean that I did something wrong?
Just because you received a downvote does not mean that you did something wrong. The downvoting person may have just been voting to reallocate the rewards in a way that they felt was more beneficial to the other active posts in the platform. Often users will leave a comment explaining why they downvoted, but sometimes they might not. If they left a reason, it is up to you to determine if you did anything wrong, and if there is anything you want to change.
Source: https://steemit.com/faq.html#What_are_the_valid_reasons_for_downvoting
Why do I post about it?
Well, some recent discussion again about why others flag that are often considered by many as censorship which is bullshit. People that know me are aware I hardly flag anything but prefer to support good content by upvoting instead of wasting my power for flags. But there are exceptions. My Steem Power is way too low if I would go fully after reward pool rape, circle jerks, copy / paste artists and all other spammers and scammers. I fully trust organisations such as 
What do I consider as hate speech?
There are two main areas I would flag, which are:
1 - If someone is attacked by serious threatening
2 - If I see radical propaganda I personally consider as hate speech (could include racism, radical political opinion making no matter if left or right wing - but can also include other hate posts against certain communities)
Steem provides an open platform and community, everyone is free, everyone is allowed to upvote or down vote whatever they want. No one has to outline any reasons for a flag or an upvote. I might still give a reason for a flag simply because I do not flag often - but in case you get one read this post and you might know why!