On an individual basis yes you can make that argument. On the basis of market manipulation, it is very powerful to reduce the demand side by over 50%, while keeping the market open so that other people who want to buy at a lower price can do so. This is what happened. Don’t gaslight yourself.

I am not an expert obviously. But is this generally true in most situations?

It just seems like maybe in this specific once-in-a-lifetime situation, maybe this doesn't apply? The decision to freeze all trades seems more "neutral" than freezing just buying which perceptively seems to favor short sellers?

It's not comparable. RH stopped people turning cash into GME, worst case is they've missed out on a pump and dump but their wealth is still in tact. If they stopped people turning GME into cash, then (1) this does nothing to help the former party, (2) you're forcing these customers to possibly lose all their wealth when the GME price starts going down and you've blocked them from closing their position.

> they are not the NYSE

That's the point: they are not, so they shouldn't act like it.