I wouldn't attribute it to malice. The author has got that probably right: the people in charge think in iOS terms.

Ah yes iOS where refreshing a page now requires you to menu dive instead of having an always accessible button up top

On macOS too now, it’s beyond ridiculous.

What if I don't want to lose my spot in the page by scrolling to the top[1]? This is a straight up UI regression. Just because there are workarounds doesn't mean it's not shit.

Edit:

[1] For example if I want to load new comments in a HN thread I'm reading.

That's three steps that used to take one. In exchange for losing the capability to quickly refresh a webpage in a browser we got... nothing?