Fake News or Plain Lies

We call false information that reaches us with the term "fake news." I won't attempt to calculate its percentage compared to actual news, but I don't understand where the "news" part is. These are simply lies and nothing more. For years, democratic countries should have implemented laws addressing these falsifications. If not criminalized, at least the punishment for publishing them should be uncompromising and worth remembering, as they harm millions today, destroying businesses and ruining reputations. Because—again—these are not news. They are lies that should be prosecuted by law.