first-amendment non-disclosure
Is it illegal to lie and say you&#39;re under an NDA?
<p>Is lying about being under a non-disclosure agreement illegal?</p>
<p>Imagine that A manages a bunch of gaming servers online, and B keeps bugging A for information that A does not want to disclose. If A lies and says he's under an NDA, has he violated the law?</p>

<p>Generally speaking, no.</p>
<p>Assuming your lie did not cause some &quot;legally cognizable harm&quot; -- as in the case of perjury, defamation, fraud -- it is almost certainly protected by the First Amendment. <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/567/709/" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><em>United States v. Alvarez</em>, 567 U.S. 709 (2012)</a>.</p>

<p>Based on the [scant] information you provide, you are fine.</p>
<p>Your description nowhere reflects that you have a duty to disclose to that person (1) the information he is trying to gather from you, or (2) whether or not you made any arrangements/agreements with third parties. Accordingly, your false statement is not actionable.</p>
<p>By contrast, <a href="https://law.stackexchange.com/revisions/57380/1">that person's retaliatory attempts to harm your reputation</a> might render him liable for defamation and --depending on his method of defaming you-- possibly other torts.</p>
