I don't know that I'd be on board for clamping to zero. You would have to decide if you are going to have a weighted zero (i.e. secret negative tally), and if so, why bother with clamping? If not, why have downvotes?

Scoring just demonstrates popularity. It's a voluntary poll, and it has no bearing on the quality or validity of someone's comment. I've seen good posts go unnoticed, and I've seen bad ones get lots of points. Voluntary polls are almost useless as a metric, and especially for a system like this one where all you have to do is click a button, it's even less useful than one where you are required to write a statement about why you voted the way you did.

I'm not saying people shouldn't be allowed to have downvotes as a way to gauge popularity, if that's a metric they want to use to filter their content, nor do I think they should be forced to experience the Fediverse my way. I am however saying that reporting helps everyone, regardless of whether downvoting is enabled or not (plus it has the added benefit of potentially removing content that doesn't belong; server space is a premium here, after all). We have options here on the Fediverse, and it's a small ask to use the reporting feature and not assume there's a "correct" or "standard" way to experience Lemmy. We can create something better than Reddit.

Not having. Enforcing.