Yea sorry if I was unclear, I was referring to slander and libel civil actions, and using an intentionally contrived example that probably didn't fall into the grey area as I intended.

I think the really difficult part about all of it is, the areas that don't require protections, aren't because the speech isn't damaging, it's that an uneven application of the rules can lead to worse problems. Or issues where it's impossible to find objective neutral parties (a jury) to decide on issues central to politics.