# Can the government compel you to lie? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 14, 2020, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-government-compel-you-to-lie/920555 "2020-09-14T10:37:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![EnolaStraight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@EnolaStraight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EnolaStraight)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2020, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-government-compel-you-to-lie/920555/1 "2020-09-14T10:37:18Z")
Inspired by this thread. > [@Can you copyright a lie?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-copyright-a-lie/920343/7): > > Under copyright law (and defamation law) a fact can be either true or false. The distinction is between a fact and expression (In defamation law the distinction is between fact and opinion. Once a statement is established as a fact, you then ask whether it is true or false.) In the United States, is it possible for Law…at some level, be it federal, state, county, or municipal…make a citizen, under penalty (fines, arrest, imprisonment) to not simply believe but _profess_ a falsity? Compel you to make a statement contrary to evidence or conscience? ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2020, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-government-compel-you-to-lie/920555/2 "2020-09-14T10:51:41Z")
Some government agents lie regularly as part of their job description. Policemen working undercover, or while interrogating a suspect. Intelligence agents spread false information to the enemy. If they suddenly develop an opposition to falsehood, then at minimum they would lose their jobs. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2020, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-government-compel-you-to-lie/920555/4 "2020-09-14T11:26:38Z")
I suppose this might be required to some degree for state secrets/national security info. Like, a CIA agent being required to maintain cover and never reveal certain information. I would imagine that some kinds of information can only really be protected by intelligence officials telling lies to supply a false narrative. But I can’t think of any other kind of example. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2020, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-government-compel-you-to-lie/920555/5 "2020-09-14T11:44:51Z")
Some people given new identities may be compelled to lie as a condition of the new identity. ---
**Author:** ![ThisIsTheEnd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisistheend/32/4713_2.png) [@ThisIsTheEnd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisIsTheEnd)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2020, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-government-compel-you-to-lie/920555/6 "2020-09-14T12:57:35Z")
Plea bargaining. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2020, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-government-compel-you-to-lie/920555/7 "2020-09-14T13:32:25Z")
I am not a lawyer, but in cases of testimony or official statements, I don’t believe so based on the 5th Amendment, and the premise of [Entrapment.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entrapment). On the one hand, the US government cannot compel you to testify against yourself, and on the other hand, if you are not predisposed to lying about a fact, then the government skates on liquid ice to compel you to do so. On the other hand, I routinely use the “No comment,” or “I can neither confirm nor deny” statements at work. It’s not a lie, it’s just a lack of acknowledgement. Tripler I plead the 5th. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2020, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-government-compel-you-to-lie/920555/8 "2020-09-14T14:02:47Z")
What about [warrant canaries](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warrant_canary)? [Commenting](https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2015/03/australia_outla.html) on an Australian law outlawing them, Bruce Schneier said > [@](#): > > Personally, I have never believed this trick would work. It relies on the fact that a prohibition against speaking doesn’t prevent someone from not speaking. But courts generally aren’t impressed by this sort of thing, and I can easily imagine a secret warrant that includes a prohibition against triggering the warrant canary. And for all I know, there are right now secret legal proceedings on this very issue. So, the question would be, could the U.S. government compel a private citizen–or a private organization–to (falsely) say “Gosh, no, Mr. Customer, we weren’t served with a warrant/FISA warrant/national security letter compelling us to turn over your information”?