If pin down an exact definition of what you mean by pump and dump, the answer will probably reveal itself to you. Regular shorting is what people mean by buyin

If pin down an exact definition of what you mean by pump and dump, the answer will probably reveal itself to you. Regular shorting is what people mean by buying puts/selling calls or selling borrowed stock. The pump and dump is you getting other people to buy/sell stock by lying about it. The difference is the fraud, for Americans, false statements of fact are not (always) protected by the first amendment. Depending on the target and the harms caused the supreme court thinks there are some statements that can be made criminal. The court is moving in the direction of expanding the amount of speech that can be prosecuted in this area. If United States v. Alvarez were decided today, it might have a different outcome. Where the statements are true, they are not just legal, they are encouraged. The more legitimate information there is, the more efficient the market is.