Is disinformation protected by the 1st Amendment?

[Anna]

Lots of talk from pols about stopping disinformation, misinformation.

I see a trend developing where such claims will enable government(s) to censor.

The only truth will be government sanctioned and approved of, truth!

 " If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear."
George Orwell


So. . . is misinformation protected or not?

I think that such poll results stem from the fact that we have a difficult and tumultuous international situation. People might feel insecure and expect some protection from their government. It happens in the times of crisis, even artificial crisis, like the Covid "pandemic." 

Any attempts to ban the so-called "disinformation" are an example of a "nanny state" trying to protect its citizens from themselves. The underlying idea is that the majority of people are too stupid to verify the information for themselves and can be easily manipulated by a hostile propaganda. Which is true, by the way.

The question is whether a liar can protect the people from other liars. The governments use disinformation too and it's all good if the lie serves their agenda. So the whole point is not the fight for truth as much as combating a hostile propaganda.