Fair enough but, unless Discourse already provides something that doesn’t imply that, it is unlikely to change any time soon.
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I get it, as well… but consider that I also may have found the post distasteful (if I had been able to see it). That’s perfectly fine because the poster and the rest of us have a right to speak our minds, but do not have a right to not be offended. The remedy for false/bad speech is true/good speech, not censorship.
Defamation can only arise if a third party is persuaded by the post. Let agora of ideas work.
I do appreciate what you are trying to achieve, but I disagree with your method. I also realize that I don’t run the forum, so I can choose to not read or contribute if it bugs me too much. I almost certainly will not bail out, however, because I strive to be resilient and admire resilience in others.
Having said that, I clearly recognize that “boiling blood” erodes resilience. It’s a good thing that isn’t my modus operandi, but when it does happen, I can at least get a good laugh at my own expense.
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Oh, that’s lame… I didn’t mean to quote you whole post. That seems to happen easier when I use the phone rather than the laptop.
Mea culpa.
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So if I find a message insulting or distasteful I would need to ask the community first if it’s ok to flag it?
I can’t believe if this is what you truly mean.
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It may depend on what country you are in but such an aspiration may not be consistent with the law.
There are many shades of grey in “being offended” … whether most people (a reasonable person) would be offended … and to what extent a person would be offended … and what level of obviousness applies to whether something would be offensive.
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In general:
If we all try to post with the rules in mind, I don’t think that the flagging option will much be used.
And thus less messages/responses will be hidden.
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Avoid “politics” while the whole forum is full of politics (privacy, freedom, …). 
In fact: that is a no-brainer. But there are always people who do not act as rules say, there are always people who misunderstand things and report for their false interpretation etc. Your “hint” does not replace a good moderation behavior.
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Nope, but he/she would have less work to do if we did. 
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I never disagreed.
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Undoubtedly so… but so what? I’ve always considered an illegal to be merely a sick bird (nod to @tracy).
I am generally law-abiding, I have served my country, but law or patriotism is not what drives me and is of of secondary importance only, if that. I would never betray my country not because “it is my nation-state, right or wrong”, but because I have given my word to do so. However, I swore an oath of loyalty to my wife and I would give my life for my children, but if they go to the Dark Side, I would cut them loose. Same for my nation-state.
Rights are not given by the state, they are inherent in our Homo Sapiens-ness, our ability to distinguish good from evil. If “given” at all, rights are given by Nature’s God.
Rights never entitle anyone to anything at anyone else’s expense, and conversely, we are free to do anything that "neither picks my (your) pocket nor breaks my (your) leg”.
I would be ashamed to exercise a false “right”, whether codified in law or not.
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And whatever you do, DON’T offend the King of Thailand, in Thailand! He definitely has the right there not to be offended.
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IMO
Auto-boot-post is a ratio, that would be a shame. However, on mouseover, it says:
“privately flag this post for attention or send a private notification about it”
That’s what it says. I didn’t try to see if works that way or by a ratio or set number of dislikes or note to Mods to make a decision.
IMO, allowing anonymous flagging/reporting is susceptible to tampering. But I do see anonymity as the lesser of two evils.
I would like to see a way for the defendant to review what irked the ire of the complainant/s i.e. a private PM. copy of the section of the post in parts or whole that caused the flagging without identifying the complainant/s comments.
I said “I would like to see…” I don’t need to know why I won’t… 
Another more humane option would be to turn off Flags, and with a plugin, allow everyone to block what they dislike. But only for themselves of course. The option could be Block this person or - block this person and any replies to them.
I like the last option. It has my blessings
~s
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Indeed. People come to this forum with different cultural and legal backgrounds, and of course also with different personal ideology.
Ultimately though it is a decision of the moderator, not of the complainant. Discourse does not seem to provide a direct means that the moderator, in upholding a complaint, can communicate the reasons to the person who made the post. However I would hope that, in many cases, that person knows he or she is stirring the, ah, pot and should not be wildly surprised.
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