Some states have criminal defamation statutes, which is why I mentioned it depends on the case. I could've made that more clear though. As another comment menti

Some states have criminal defamation statutes, which is why I mentioned it depends on the case. I could've made that more clear though. As another comment mentioned, Ohio isn't one of those states though. My main point was that sometimes "making stuff up online" is a crime, or in the least, unlawful. And as far as colloquialism goes, crime, illegal, and unlawful are used interchangeably by the general public.