The mod banning these users is the same mod who made the posts they downvoted. This is mod abuse, turning the downvote button into an auto-self-ban button.
The message is “If you disagree with me, you will be banned”
Monitoring and banning users for using lemmy as intended to signal boost your opinion should be grounds to have all mod privileges removed. This behaviour undermines the integrity of the server and the wider fediverse.
You can express yourself. You can make a post in the community and engage in a dialogue. You can make a post another community, such as this one, complaining about the original community. You can make a new community where you just complain about the other community. You’re free to express yourself. But for people who want to participate in the community it should be for them
Cop out bullshit
So if I’m a part of a community, I should only upvote and never downvote? You want echo chambers, got it.
Well that broadly depends on the communities policy. Mostly communities will ban people outside of the community, ie lurking and looking in for the mass downvoting all content on the community.