Should there be penalties for deliberately spreading disinformation to mislead the public on scientific facts in order to promote industry agendas?

It's honestly super frustrating when you see stuff like that, especially when it messes with people's health or basic understanding of how things work. I see it all the time where people get totally confused by claims that sound legit but are actually just pushed by some company to sell a product or avoid regulations. When someone does that on purpose, just to line their pockets while putting others at risk, it feels like there should definitely be some kind of consequence for it.

I don't think we need to go overboard and start censoring every little opinion, but there has to be a line, right? If you're lying about scientific data and it ends up hurting the public or causing real harm, that’s not just a difference of opinion anymore. Maybe heavy fines or some kind of accountability would make these companies think twice before funding fake science or hiring people to spread misinformation online. It's just getting way too hard to find the truth these days with all the noise out there.