Is Elon Musk not allowed to say anything ever again? Does the follower size decide whether it was manipulation? Which follower count then? Or which price movement in relative terms?
When a very influential person, who controls billions of dollars, just say crazy stuff to see the price goes up and down , that is manipulation.
There are many rules in the stock market , and such declarations cannot be made freely. People who have privileged or confidential information not released yet to the public cannot just be tweeting about it.
In stock market this kind of behavior is not allowed and he would have face fines.