The gemara 33b brachot says:

אֲמַר לֵיהּ לָאו הֲלָכָה אִתְּמַר אֵלָּא מַטִּין אִתְּמַר

Rabbi Zeira then said to him: It wasn't stated in public that the halachah follows Rabbi Eliezer, but that we lean to his opinion, [We advise individuals to follow his opinion if they ask, but we don't publicize the halachah.]

So then what do we do? What do we tell the public to do if the Gemara says that we shouldn't tell people the halacha?