What this piece doesn't address is the harms of lying. It's like the boy who cried wolf. It erodes trust in those who are supposed to be experts, leading everyone to be unsure of what is true or not, which is a worse situation. Time passes and depending on how egregious the lie was, the collective memory forgets. But between then, the damage has been done and the experts lose some of those who would listen to them and yet others who unquestionably defended them.