maybe we should stop punishing crime because it wont stop it anyway?
“Crime” is whatever the powers that be decide it to be. Unfortunately the powers that be are greedy and act in their own interest rather than in the interests of the population at large.
Criminalising online words is not the way to deal with disinformation. It’s a simple minded, knee jerk reaction and a dangerous threat to freedom of speech and freedom of thought.
The appropriate way to deal with disinformation is to invest in education, particularly education of reason and critical thinking.
But that won’t happen because a population of educated people capable of reason and critical thinking goes very much against the interests of the powers that be.