"To mislead the public" means deliberately giving false or incomplete information, or manipulating the truth, in order to deceive or confuse people. Full definition
We can only guess but there is a good chance the reports will reveal his department were misleading the public about the progress of the programme. (politics.co.uk)
And all the while it was misleading the public by pretending everything was fine. (politics.co.uk)
The defendant must make a false representation by using the claimant's distinctive sign, or domain name, which has the effect of misleading the public. (newlawjournal.co.uk)