GameStop Stock - question

This investor, Keith Gill, posted about his position in GameStop on Sunday night and the stock price has jumped significantly today.  

At what point does this cross over from legal to market manipulation?

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/gamestop-stock-soars-after-roaring-kitty-reveals-175-million-bet-on-the-retailer-124246150.html

GameStop (GME) stock surged on Monday after user "DeepF***ingValue" on Reddit, an account believed to be tied to individual investor Keith Gill — who ignited the meme stock rally back in 2021 — posted a screenshot on Reddit late Sunday that purported to show they built a nearly $175 million position in the video game retailer.

Gill is also known as Roaring Kitty on X and YouTube. The user posted the screenshot Sunday night on Reddit's Superstonk subreddit.

Personally, I think the market is manipulated often. The issue here is he’s not one of the “old boys club” and he’s doing it out in the open for anyone to see. Usually you’d need to be a member of the cub to be privy to such manipulations. 

What did he do other than admit that he owns a lot of the stock?  

GameStop is a meme stock. These guys who post prominently are trying to influence price moves, up or down. There are no financial fundamentals behind the moves, just emotion and speculation. 

Proceed cautiously!

https://techreport.com/crypto-news/why-roaring-kitty-remains-immune-to-sec-probe-for-meme-stock-manipulations/

Daniel Hawke, former head of the SEC’s market abuse unit and a member of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer, clearly described Gill’s approach. According to him, Gill is just taking advantage of a rule gap.

This fact highlights the complexity of Gill’s actions, which, while controversial, appear to stay within the boundaries of the law. Gill has a powerful impact on retail investors. He uses his online presence to draw significant attention to GameStop, leading to increased trading activity.

However, unlike typical market manipulation schemes, Gill does not encourage investments in GameStop or make false claims about the company’s financial health.

His communications are often limited to cryptic memes and updates on his own trading positions. As Hawke pointed out, this approach makes it difficult for the SEC to accuse him of deceit, which is essential for any prosecution.

Moreover, Gill’s actions highlight a notable grey area in market regulations. While some observers accuse him of market manipulation, others argue that his behavior is similar to that of Wall Street fund managers who openly discuss their investments.

This divergence of opinions highlights the tricky nature of his activities and the challenges they present to the SEC.

The agency’s main challenge is determining whether Roaring Kitty’s trading activities and influence constitute deception. This is because existing regulations require evidence of deceit for a successful prosecution.

The situation shows the need for reassessing regulatory structures, which is necessary to keep pace with the evolving nature of such influences.