Shorting a stock is not a nefarious activity, it is a legitimate way to play a stock, just like taking a long position is.
With the $2.50 per share margin rules shorting pennies is totally impractical that is IF you can find a broker to allow you to short pennies.
" There are two ways to be fooled : one is to believe what isn't true, the other is to refuse to believe what is true ," Kierkegaard