That really set the Streisand Effect into full force.
The bannings were questionable for sure but not outright malicious with no other way to explain it. The official mailing list has a "code only, no comments about the developers" rule. That makes sense as a way to prevent the conversation from going off the rails into ad hominem territory every time. We all know what the average internet argument is like without that and any exception is going to lead there.
The people who got banned were pointing out that the initial vocal supporters had a history of shitcoining and some had financial conflicts of interest. Is that about the code or the person? Both for sure.
The change has been dropped for now. As far as I know there are no plans to change the default or remove the setting at this time.