Well on the cryptically front, I don't think some of the larger whales who flag, care who know it. On the other hand little accounts are frightened to flag because of retaliation.
Free flags have their positives as well as potential negatives. I know that personally I have been reluctant to flag too often because it uses up my VP which I prefer to use positively. I will flag more of it doesn't cost me and I suppose that more might too. Then again there is the retaliation factor. So who knows
Well, substantial stakeholders can sample the blockchain data because they are amply supplied with stake to purchase such a service. Unless you propose censoring the blockchain itself - which I hope you are not - obscuring the source of flags via the front ends will not prevent the actual data from being preserved on the blockchain.
Bernie will take full advantage of free downvotes. We can be confident of this, I expect. I thought I should flag back for a while, to symbolize resistance to bullying, but I don't care. I'm not a symbol of anything. I still do my part to suppress spam and the like where necessary. I don't see enough of it to present much of a drag on my insignificant VP, so don't need free flags for that purpose.