They know that people not caring or being aware of them isn't going to cut it, people who are aware of it and its impacts don't want it. And since it is publicly disclosed that it's there in the game, and there are lists and curators to make that more apparent, not knowing isn't likely to be something to last for long.
So it's only natural they'd want to try and improve their image, though this little stunt definitely did not help them.
I agree with this and I think it makes sense since mod actions are already public, they're sent to every single server out there and any server which enables them will reveal mod names, and allow searching by mod. So I think it's only natural to enable it to make ease of use better since it allows searching by the mod doing it in the modlog and lets you confirm whether it is a specific mod doing things. That can be useful for reporting but it can also just be useful for people just looking to avoid conflict. If @person@sh.itjust.works moderates several communities and is banning people for being gay and outing them in the modlog I might want to report them specifically for doing that, but someone else might just want to avoid touching any of the communities they are doing that in. Being able to know which person is doing the bans can help with that.
I strongly disagree with the idea that knowing who did it is only useful as a form of vigilante justice, it can be but the people looking to do this will do it anyway. It is better as a tool for users to help better report abusive behavior, or even just avoid conflicts with a specific moderator.