I'm supposed to believe this technology is dangerous. But the advocates are children.
To be clear, I also think the referenced bit is childish and detracts from the message. I just don't think that should affect your belief in whether it's important.
I do think you have a point though. It's not entirely up to the reader, there is a minimum threshold of clearly communicating facts that needs to be met by the author. But I don't think it's safe to say something that's unclear in tone means it was the expressed intent of the author to cause confusion. Humor can add quite a bit to an argument if done right, as humor often has the ability to cut through some of our preconceptions. Humor done wrong might be confusing, but that could very well be unintentional.