When someone from the ME comments on a story about the ME, it is customary on HN for the community to downvote them into oblivion.

They are not downvoted into oblivion as far as I can see.

Why do you say it's customary?

When I left the reply, the comment was light gray.

I quipped that it is 'customary' based only on a few previous instances I noticed on HN. They drew my attention because with ME issues, I feel like most takes here (including my own) are based on received ideas, rather than first-hand experience.