Look. All I know is what I looked up, and have read in the past; and that I wasn't rate limited until after I commented on a thread that suddenly got mega-flagged and I deleted my comment to try to be safe. Wasn't fast enough I guess, cause either an auto-bot just rate limited everyone in it; or a mod did.
Prior to that, I wasn't rate limited. After that, I was. Make of it what you will.
Downvoting, flagging, and moderator actions are three different things.
Posting something people disagree with isn’t the same as a flame war. Keeping things civil is a requirement, which trips people up.