It's probably good to not allow redirects or targeted content to users, and those are valid complaints. I totally shouldn't get link redirected, sent to a shady site, or displayed offensive content, different than what the submitter might have seen since they didn't have a referrer, because the other side of the link is hostile to users here. That said, I think a "banned link" list for submissions might serve this purpose better and more neutrally, if you're wanting to please both sides. I don't think you were out to "go after" anybody at all though, I think you were just blindsided by something you didn't think as deeply about as some of the folks on the other side expected. From that perspective, I feel for ya and don't blame you for getting stuck in the spot you ended up in at all.

From the above though, I'd say an opt-in (either via moderator here or site owner request) ban-list on top of a general all-link "noreferrer" policy would be my preferred solution as a users. Heck, an "ultra technical" answer would be let robots.txt filter a HN bot agent which checks when the submission is polled, way less manual. Others may disagree, and it does come with the downside sites won't be able to tell where the sudden burst of traffic originates, but that's my 2 cents.