I don't think the voting for witnesses was buying votes, as they were not told who to vote on specifically, just to vote. Obviously, who they "should" vote on was implied

Phew! I thought I had lost my moral compass (honestly). Thanks for helping me to find it.

You are right on a closer look, this is more like a 'rock the vote' campaign. It does need to be kept in check. And yeah, it was implied.

However I do wonder, would you get an upvote if you voted Tron Sock Puppet 1~20 and screen shoot that (balls of steel :)

In many countries, people are paid to donate blood or given free stuff and volunteer hours. Is this unethical to sell your body elementals? In the case of upvotes for steem that is like a financial exchange and the downvote is only annoying because it reduces the value of the exchange.

EDIT:

MAKE SURE YOU ARE NOT VOTING FOR SOCK PUPPET ACCOUNTS!

yeah strongly implied is mildly putting it.