The practice of shorting is legitimate and perfectly legal at...

The practice of shorting is legitimate and perfectly legal at the moment and probably will continue to be well into the future.
In short selling, a position is opened by borrowing shares of a stock or other asset that the investor believes will decrease in value. However the practice of writing or distributing false information to achieve such a result is not legal and can carry severe penalties.

Sayona Mining Limited is on the cusp of a major re-rate, closer than it ever has been before The risk of a loss on a short sale is theoretically unlimited since the price of the asset could climb many and multiple times which puts a blogger who writes for any unscrupulous fund manager, or other, at great risk.

When the risk becomes too high they move on to easier pickings where they could better substantiate their reasons for a price decline if caught out and questioned.

I believe the day is coming in Australia when cash-strapped governments will tighten the net on these fraudsters, as they should.