The main reason I support allowing deletion of content is that for individuals in abusive households or citizens of certain governments, if they posted something in the past that was dangerous to their health or life, they should be able to delete it to ensure they are not harmed by a parent or spouse who may be in a position of power over them and may be abusing them, or in the case of a government it may target them for something they said in the past.
We've helped many such users, and I don't believe that anyone who has contacted us in such a situation has ever been unhappy with the result. It is true that they have to contact us, which isn't great, but I don't know of a better way.
perhaps it would be a good idea to make it more visible / obvious to people that they would have that option? many of the people who are in vulnerable situations, may already be feeling powerless or have learned helplessness and may not even think to reach out via email. that seems like something someone who is normally quite empowered might think to try, but if one thinks of large internet companies like google or facebook, the idea of emailing to get a human being to help you seems impossible so people might not even think to try with HN in this age of algorithmic support.
HN isn’t the appropriate venue to do that nor should that very important burden be placed on them. There are numerous organizations setup to assist people in the exact circumstances you speak of, however.
