I agree with you and think the comparison with follow4follow is very apt.

I wrote an article on the topic (https://medium.com/an-idea/we-need-the-option-to-opt-out-from-like-buttons-everywhere-88c9d59fe441).

We should have the possibility to hide like buttons in general. Claps even more so, as they’re not even the statistic on which we should focus as you rightly said. (Reach/number of reads is much more significant)

Thanks for commenting! :D

PS: (the so-called bug was a joke of mine, as far as I know at least!)