I find that Lal quote quite ironic, given how the free flow of information has backfired somewhat in the modern world by devaluing journalism to the cost of nothing. This has resulted in misinformation proliferating online and the general population perhaps becoming even less informed than previous generations.
Information does not flow as freely as it seems to today. Those in power have found new and more subtle ways to control its flow.
The modern world devalued almost every valuable thing into nothingness, and values only a handful of well-controlled items at impracticable levels.
This is a very general problem, and doesn't detract much for any idea about any one thing in particular.
I’d argue that misinformation is a type of information control too. If you can’t stop information from spreading you can simply drown it in nonsense for the same effect.
I think some of the most harmful misinformation is organic in nature, it might be fuelled by propaganda but normal people are entirely willing to seek out and believe in information that supports their prejudices or opinions, irrespective of its truth.
As the good Prokhor put it:
> Man's unfailing capacity to believe what he prefers to be true rather than what the evidence shows to be likely and possible has always astounded me. We long for a caring Universe which will save us from our childish mistakes, and in the face of mountains of evidence to the contrary we will pin all our hopes on the slimmest of doubts. God has not been proven not to exist, therefore he must exist.
Alpha Centauri presents its tech to you the same way, but it's inventions are science fiction, and likewise the quotes [1] are fictional, from the important characters, the major players of the various factions within. You get a real sense for the groups involved and the major players from such. You get a sense of the civilizations involved, sometimes presented in their folklore or humor. For example, the militaristic Spartans quote a variation of an old marching cadence - "I don't know but I've been told / Deirdre's got a Network Node / Likes to press the on-off switch / Dig that crazy Gaian witch!"
My favorite, though, and feeling ever more prescient:
"As the Americans learned so painfully in Earth's final century, free flow of information is the only safeguard against tyranny. The once-chained people whose leaders at last lose their grip on information flow will soon burst with freedom and vitality, but the free nation gradually constricting its grip on public discourse has begun its rapid slide into despotism. Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master.
Commissioner Pravin Lal U.N. Declaration of Rights"
[1] A good compendium of them - https://www.generationterrorists.com/quotes/smac.html