If you read article, you may find that the argument is that the speed of the trades creates the perception of an unfair advantage and has even supposedly impelled larger buyers and seller to move the "dark pools". Now all this might wrong but it seems like a bit more than "anti-finance populism".

And the thing with the liquidity created by HFT is... if that liquidity is going to be suddenly withdrawn all at once, you've lost the advantage of liquid market, which is that you always have a reasonable chance of quickly selling at a reasonable price.