Fake 'Social Experiment' Poll Showed Hong With Massive Lead Before Wisconsin Primary Loss
Median Strategies said the fabricated surveys were a short-term social experiment to test how false polling data spreads without independent verification.
- On Monday, Median Strategies withdrew fabricated election polls from three states, admitting the organization created them as a "short-term social experiment" to test how false information spreads through the political information ecosystem without independent verification.
- Before shuttering its website this week, the previously unknown organization claimed its "social experiment" investigated how purported polling information enters the political ecosystem, though it refused to identify who operated the firm or its website.
- Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass shared a fake poll showing a nearly 12-point lead over City Council member Nithya Raman, which briefly shifted betting market prices on Kalshi and Polymarket before the campaign removed the post.
- Major polling aggregators including The New York Times and FiftyPlusOne ignored the surveys due to lack of transparency and methodological detail, while experts criticized the firm for wreaking havoc in elections with real stakes.
- Veteran Republican pollster Chris Wilson, who leads the public opinion firm EyesOver, said "it's never been easier to make invented numbers look legitimate," warning that bad actors can manipulate public understanding of races as low-quality polls proliferate.
18 Articles
18 Articles
Is it time to axe political polling? Firm collapses after admitting its numbers were a ‘social experiment’
Median Strategies, which presented itself as an independent polling and research firm, recently shut down after the Los Angeles Times exposed it for fabricating a survey showing a large lead for Karen Bass in the Los Angeles mayoral race. Its other fabricated results, including one showing Francesca Hong with a large lead in Wisconsin’s Democratic gubernatorial primary, were also revealed as part of the same operation.After repeated inquiries fr…
Mysterious Polling Firm Fooled A Major Democrat Campaign — Then Admitted Everything Was Fake – 100PercentFedUp.com – by Donald
An anonymous polling operation fed fabricated numbers into three live elections, won public amplification from a Democrat mayor's campaign, and then vanished.
Hawaii Tribune-Herald
The Seattle TimesFake polls in Wisconsin and California were part of a ‘social experiment’
An organization that released public election polling in recent weeks withdrew the results of two surveys, revealing that it had fabricated the polls as part of a “short-term social experiment” meant to expose how quickly false information could spread. The post Fake polls in Wisconsin and California were part of a ‘social experiment’ appeared first on Hawaii Tribune-Herald.
Fake polling from mysterious company highlights danger of unvetted election surveys - Regional Media News
NEW YORK (AP) - Locked in a competitive reelection race, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass declared on social media last week that a new poll was evidence that her campaign was "gaining momentum." Just a few days later, the truth emerged: The poll was fabricated. The California results were among at least three "polls" across three states posted online this month by Median Strategies, a previously unknown organization that admitted to the Los Angeles…
Mysterious polling firm behind fake election surveys closes after admitting ‘social experiment’
Median Strategies admitted its polls on the Karen Bass LA mayor race and the Francesca Hong Wisconsin gubernatorial primary were fabricated as a social experiment before shutting down.
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