Not sure if you saw it but another user pointed out that there's already a section in the guidelines about it:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29542871

> Please don't post insinuations about astroturfing, shilling, brigading, foreign agents and the like. It degrades discussion and is usually mistaken. If you're worried about abuse, email hn@ycombinator.com and we'll look at the data.

That guideline makes sense to me. I was previously unaware of it [the guideline] but the justification is sound, doubly so because it turned out the comments were genuine* :) My apologies.

* Albeit at least one user presumably found the post via Twitter from following the author which is a little bit of a grey area