Doubt there’s any such conspiracy. Just a guess that someone wanted others to see that Free Republic has a huuuuuge archive of articles readily available when events as the following occur:
FRAUDS: Salon Removes Old Articles That Tried to Justify Pedophilia
The RalphRetort | February 20, 2017 | Ethan Ralph
Posted on 2/21/2017, 6:23:10 PM by blueyon
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3527659/posts
Saw that title at some point yesterday, but was loathe to delve into it .. assumed it was just more (unsurprising) Enemedia CYA SOP.