Yeah it's worse. Using a privileged position to discredit opposition under the cover of "lolz."

No... it really isn't. This is abusing power to attempt to manipulate public opinion on a message board. Stalking is a horrible invasion of privacy that has a tendency to escalate into violence. And even when it doesn't, it results in drastically increased anxiety and fear for the person being stalked if they find out.

Someone could certainly suffer anxiety and fear if their public messages were altered in the appropriate manner. And it could escalate.

"in the appropriate manner"

But if we focus on the manner that actually occurred, the only additional harm vs. a reply of "no u" is to reddit's reputation.