Website behind widely shared fake election polls run by 21-year-old

A 21-year-old college graduate, Rahil Prakash, has admitted to running an anonymous website, Median Strategies, which published widely shared fake election polls in Wisconsin, Nevada, and California. Prakash stated he conducted a "short-term social experiment" to test how easily fabricated polls could spread through the political information ecosystem without verification. The website abruptly shut down after being questioned by the Los Angeles Times. Prakash apologized to the campaigns of Karen Bass, Nithya Raman, and Francesca Hong, whose races were affected by the false polling data. He was inspired to test his theory after observing a significant polling miss in a Michigan Senate primary. Prakash created the website using artificial intelligence and claimed he alone was responsible for Median Strategies.

A previously unknown organization called Median Strategies admitted to fabricating at least three online polls released this month, including one that Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass's campaign shared on social media as evidence of "gaining momentum." Median Strategies stated the fake polls were part of a "short-term social experiment" to examine how unverified polling data spreads. The fabricated polls covered races in Wisconsin, Nevada, and Los Angeles. Experts warn that the ease of creating seemingly legitimate fake poll numbers poses a significant risk to the political information ecosystem, as campaigns and outside groups have incentives to amplify favorable, unverified data. Major poll aggregators did not include Median's results due to a lack of transparency regarding methodology and the firm's identity.