The criticism was not the news itself but this particular source compared to other available sources of the same news.

It is a shame they are indifferent to the degree of AI slop ('Then came the order. Not a shutdown-- something worse. The routers didn't go silent. They screamed. Filtering rules conflicted. Routes flapped. The network began eating itself alive.') as it neither lends credibility to the source nor respects the humanity of the story's subjects. It would be far better were other HN readers more discerning.

That 12,000 number is utter make believe - an X account (you can guess who backs it) make this claim, got boosted and got over 1M views... and then they deleted the post. But the damage is done, of course.

Even sources in the Iranian security forces say 2000, which is nothing to scoff at.

The 12,000 number comes from Iran International's Editorial Board, not some random twitter user:

https://www.iranintl.com/en/202601130145

Absolutely all your comments are shilling for Iranian dictatorship. Are you paid by Iran? Sorry I have a bad news for you, you will probably never receive the next paycheck since IRCG and terrorist mullahs regime is probably falling in the next weeks