This definitely qualifies, because the stated intention is to move the price of the shares, not to acquire a position for any other reasonable purpose.
I work at a trading firm, if I outlined a plan to do anything like this I would (rightly) be fired instantly. If I actually did it I would go to jail.
The law shouldn't be applied differently for redditors, but probably it will be.
Regarding last week, what about the blocking of a number of symbols from being bought (but not sold) on retail platforms while the folks on the short side could unwind their positions? These were stocks with high short interest. How did Robinhood and IB and TD get the list, from analyzing Reddit in ML?
As to Robinhood, IB and TD, the Bloomberg reporting that DTCC (clearinghouse for trades) was demanding more collateral for the high volatility names and the retail brokers were facing a heard time coming up with it is pretty compelling. Unless someone can point to something other than innuendo, I’m probably gonna believe that.
The redditors have absolutely broken no laws, in fact there is not the slightest whiff of any reason to even suggest they might have. It’s just anger from wealth classes for having been embarrassed.