Well it would still cost them to lease HP, even if not a lot. Actions like these would quickly drive attention to it and other stakeholders could help in countering the downvotes and in many cases vote up the victims more than they would've received before the downvotes. While most people shy away/don't wanna get involved in such drama there's plenty of stakeholders who'd step up in helping out if they see that value is being driven away unfairly on chain.