Fake polls spread online, raising election integrity concerns

Concerns over political misinformation have resurfaced in the United States following the revelation that a group called Median Strategies fabricated poll numbers in at least three states. The fabricated results were used to influence election campaigns, raising questions about the integrity of the online information ecosystem.

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was created as a short-term social experiment examining how purported polling information could enter and spread through the political information ecosystem without independent verification

The Los Angeles mayoral race was among those affected, with incumbent Mayor Karen Bass's campaign initially sharing a fake poll on social media, citing it as evidence of gaining momentum. The poll, which purported to show Bass leading her opponent by 12 percentage points, was later revealed to be bogus. The Bass campaign has since deleted the post but defended its actions by stating the poll was reported on by multiple news outlets.

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I wanted to see if fake polls could really penetrate the ecosystem that easily. And as it turned out, it could.

Median Strategies, which has since shuttered its website, admitted to creating the polls as a "short-term social experiment" to examine how fabricated data could spread online without verification. A 21-year-old college graduate reportedly confessed to being behind the website, telling The Guardian that he wanted to test how easily fake polls could penetrate the political information environment. He found that it was surprisingly easy.

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This is much bigger than one fake poll. It's never been easier to make invented numbers look legitimate, and campaigns and outside groups have every incentive to amplify anything favourable before anyone verifies it.

Veteran Republican pollster Chris Wilson warned that the ease of creating and disseminating invented numbers poses a significant threat. He noted that campaigns and outside groups have a strong incentive to amplify favorable, albeit fake, data before it can be debunked. The incident highlights the challenges voters and even campaigns face in distinguishing credible polls from fabricated ones amidst a flood of surveys with questionable methodologies.

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was reported on by multiple news outlets