Yeah, they got to come down on that crap or they'll just keep doing it.
But flopping has been around forever. Hell,
Frank Ramsey wrote an article on how to flop convincingly for Sports Illustrated in 1963. All sorts of players were accused of "falling down all the time" back then.
It was definitely around in the 80s and 90s too, there just wasn't youtube and constant cable highlights to draw attention to it. Guys like Rodman, Divac, Laimbeer, etc. flopped constantly....Horry, Stockton, Ainge, World B. Free, Reggie Miller, Doc Rivers were were known for flopping too, but the NBA protected its brand and didn't make a big deal of it like absolutely anyone can do now. Even Bird, Jordan, and Malone were accused of being floppers on occasion.