What’s the difference, really? One truth is that power corrupts. The power to “prevent people from spreading blatant lies” is the power to be the arbiter of truth; it’s naive to think that power will never be abused.
When overlords and their followers believe themselves and to be benevolent moral authorities (as most do), any criticism is seen as malicious misinformation. It also helps that the overlords are in a position to control the flow of information, and thus define what is fact and what is fiction, according to their version of reality.