I can't believe how unbelievably little people like you know about law and free speech. Are you the one seriously arguing that it's illegal to lie on Twitter? Or to lie a newspaper? Of course faking a document is perfectly legal as long as it's not used for fraud. Tricking people on Twitter or at a newspaper isn't fraud unless they're contractually paying you for authentic documents and you deceive them for monetary gain.

Is this really that hard? The Onion fakes documents all the time and claims to have quotes from police officers and government officials on a daily basis.

Free speech is the most essential of all freedoms, and you'd trade it away for a song and a dance out of sheer ignorance.

Great guy your cousin. Would do business again 10/10.

It comes down to intent. If you falsify a government document and use it to defraud someone then that would be a criminal act. But if you show a fake tax return form for "Donald Trump" as a joke then that would be protected free speech.

How convinient for the state to prosecute citizens spreading "fake" documents. I mean what could go wrong.

... Hold on, are you just now realising that fraud isn't legal? Like, it's one of the first things to have been illegal; the oldest legal codes that we know about cover it.

That said this isn't a criminal case and the state isn't prosecuting anyone. (Yet; I assume the person might be prosecuted at some point)

And this is fraud... how? Because a guy made up fake stories and gave them to a newspaper for free? Or because he posted untrue things on Twitter? I guess the folks at The Onion better expect police knocking at their door any day now. They make up documents and quotes from "government officials" all the time. Better arrest them!

Who else would prosecute people for spreading fake documents? Do you think a civil suit would be more effective?

In this case it's a civil lawsuit, and the Twitter user isn't being charged with anything.

Not yet

The state isn't prosecuting anyone. It's a civil lawsuit.