There’s a major distinction between misinformation and disinformation.
Disseminating DISinformation should be considered fraud, provided it can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the purveyors knew the information was false. Otherwise, any provably-false thing is misinformation.
It's noisy as hell in most sciences. It takes a loooong time for true consensus to be established, and much longer to challenge an existing consensus. So "provably false", while admirable, is not applicable to any of the topics that the authorities are upset over, like vaccine efficacy/safety, climate change and so on. Much less the appropriate reaction - like vaccine mandates or what energy sources we should invest in. Anyone who claims consensus is either lying or I'll informed.
Disseminating DISinformation should be considered fraud, provided it can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the purveyors knew the information was false. Otherwise, any provably-false thing is misinformation.