Everyone is free to give merit where they want, it is only a problem if they are trading them or farming alts.
That was one of the reasons why I began this thread. Since users are free to distribute their merit in almost any way they would like, it makes me wonder if this is even something that is actionable or if it is riding an unfortunate line.
Interestingly the thread has been deleted by the moderators. I think that is probably due to it falling foul of the forums rule prohibiting incentivised posting.
Specifically, you are not allowed to give people any incentive to post insubstantial posts in your threads.
My highlighting on the difference between that thread and other Merit review threads.