The Mises Institute weighs in on the subject:
As regards “market manipulation,” the emphasis is misplaced. The “manipulation” of hedge fund managers noting that the companies they are shorting are not doing well isn’t really even something that can count as manipulation. Neither is small-time investors on Reddit pointing out that a short squeeze condition could make them all money. That condition was created by the mistakes and excessive risks of the hedge fund managers and easily noted in publicly available information. If pointing out facts to investors is “market manipulation,” then nearly everything would qualify, from investor data sheets and quarterly earnings reports to press releases and news reporting.
What definitely qualifies as manipulation is the choice of major trading platforms like Robinhood to shut down the ability of smaller investors to buy stocks in GameStop (and other firms on the most shorted stock list) in an effort to keep the hedge funds afloat after making their massive mistakes. This has been rightly called out by AOC and Ted Cruz alike because it is a blatant and one-sided restriction clearly designed to benefit the big players at the expense of the small-time investor. While there is nothing that should be illegal about such an act, it also clearly amounts to a sort of business self-sabotage: What investor will continue to use Robinhood knowing that if they potentially might make too much money, Robinhood will stop them from using the service?
