"I don't know anything about the authorities behind Hive and have always wondered how this place hasn't turned into a lawless "deep web" style land, which keeps the damn vermin (pedophiles and criminals in general) away from a paradise like this? Probably some intelligent system formed by a team that aims to keep the sphere clean, probably with benefits for this service? I don't know, I would LOVE to know more about all this."
Since we are decentralized (at least to a large extent), the community, itself, is responsible for policing the vermin. Each of us has the power to "downvote" any post, which collectively can make a difference. We've had a few instances of criminal behavior, and it has been dealt with, accordingly, with the authorities involved in some cases. There are also several anti-abuse projects that help with routine abuse of the ecosystem, such as plagiarism, copy/pasta, identity theft, scammers, spammers, low-effort, account-farming, token-farming, and so forth. It's not perfect, but we're always working on it all, behind-the-scenes as well as coordinating our efforts.
Many of us have invested years making this a good place. I'm at the 8-year mark, but some have been here longer than me. Although I have earned most of my money here via blogging, I have financially invested some fiat in HIVE, too. And I will not hesitate to downvote and report someone who tries to intentionally abuse the system we have worked so hard to built.