I agree with Ariana on her first point - sometimes it's really rude to say the truth directly. But personally speaking, I can use white lie only when I interact with strangers or people I don't really care about.Don't get me wrong: I never voice my opinion unless people ask me to do so, and even when I say what I really think I try to do it in a super polite way.

With friends and family I prefer to keep everything crystal clear.If someone invites me to a party and say "oh btw George is gonna be there too", I will say "That's ok, but i'd prefer not to meet him, can we hang out another time?". I don't lie to people who are significant for me. It helps to avoid any kinds of misunderstanding.

In my opinion, ideally it's not good to tell (white) lies but there are some cases where you have to even if you don't want to (for protocol/manners' sake)

For instance, your friend invited you to a party and you didn't want to go because you don't like the other guests. It would be rude to bluntly say that you don't want to go because you're avoiding certain people so it's better off to make excuses like you can't go because you're very busy or sick