Here is a snip-it , somewhat dated, from a book on abusive short selling that is relevant to the age we live in....

“I think it was inevitable for certain Internet blogs to appear whose primary purpose is to aid and abet abusive MMs and related hedge funds that sell nonexistent securities for a living. A lot of tiny PinkSheet issuers operate under what is referred to as a 12-g exemption from both the registration and disclosure requirements of the ’33 and ’34 Acts. The SEC created this exemption for development stage issuers because of the often onerous costs involved in producing audited financials for yet to be cash flow positive issuers. These are referred to as “non-reporting” issuers.

As might be expected, some of these corporations are indeed run by securities fraudsters that prefer to operate in this “approved darkness” in order to orchestrate “pump and dumps”. Other are run by legitimate entrepreneurs trying to build viable corporations. What both types of corporations have in common are shareholders and potential investors having the inability to study any audited SEC filings. An auditor takes risk in signing off on financials and thus audited financials provide a measure of credibility.

This lack of available information often gives way to certain Internet blogs as serving as the main due diligence mechanism for impressionable investors not knowing any better. Those that control these forums therefore can to a certain extent control the actions of investors and potential investors. If you control the forum you can control the message. If you can control the message then you can control the thought patterns of naïve investors.

Those abusive naked short sellers that sell nonexistent securities for a living would obviously be interested in gaining control of these forums without appearing to be in control of these forums as the sale of nonexistent securities for a living is obviously a form of fraud. The Internet is the perfect vehicle to aid and abet these frauds as those posting their “unbiased opinions” can hide behind their 1st Amendment rights to free speech while hiding behind the anonymity associated with usually the use of proxy servers on the Internet.

As one might expect these forums will briskly delete any positive statements made about any corporation they had targeted for destruction and strictly forbid a poster from ad hominem attacks accusing a blog participant as being a “paid basher”. There is a powerful combination at work here involving control of the forum, anonymity, freedom of speech, impressionable investors and an informational vacuum devoid of the protective role provided by an auditor facing consequences for misleading the public.

One of the ironies here is that the “approved darkness” non-reporting issuers operate under and are criticized for by “bashers” is no different than the “approved darkness” provided by Internet anonymity when combined with 1st Amendment rights. Although seldom addressed by prosecutors, all of these activities clearly fall under the umbrella of “artifices or contrivances to defraud” specifically forbidden by Rule 10b-5 of the ’34 Exchange Act. The “deceit” or “fraud” has to do with the fact that investors think they are buying legitimate registered “shares” that are “outstanding” of which there are “X” amount and contain a full package of rights including voting rights. What they are getting credited to their account are readily sellable share price depressing “security entitlements/IOUs” without full voting privileges and that are over and above the number of legitimate shares “outstanding”.”