If presented in the context of a substantive comment about the assertions, I'd agree with you. Without any such substantive comments it's simply assuming the worst about others. The HN guidelines [0] are actually pretty darn good guidance for encouraging intelligent discussion of complex topics, and by my read advocate for more thoughtful approaches to commenting on multiple fronts here, including not posting shallow dismissals or assumptions about astroturfing and shillage. Again, if there is a concrete objection to the logic the author took time to detail in their post, by all means that's a great topic for discussion, and that's where we would all actually learn something positive instead of just insinuating something negative.
Just as one would take any marketing/promotional material for why a company's products are better than competitors with a grain of salt, and would want such material to be clearly marked as marketing material, I think bringing to light the author's relationship to the Swift helps, and does not hinder, further discussion.