Pollster admits to fabricating data for ‘social experiment’ to expose flaws of industry

A polling firm has admitted to using fabricated data in surveys that were picked up by national media outlets in the US, claiming the project was a “social experiment” designed to expose the lack of scrutiny over the sector.

Wedgewood Polls released a statement on Tuesday on social media, after the polling and election analysis site FiftyPlusOne reached out for comment on an investigation it had conducted into their surveys and data. In its statement, Wedgewood Polls admitted to fabricating its numbers, stating that the project was designed as a “wake-up call,” intended “to demonstrate the vulnerabilities, lack of oversight, and overall low barrier to entry in the modern political polling industry.”

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“Our fabricated numbers were given instant credibility across national media platforms,” the statement said. “The ease with which unverified figures were absorbed into mainstream political narratives highlights a systemic breakdown in media vetting and data aggregation.”

Publications that reproduced Wedgewood Polls’s fraudulent surveys included Newsweek, the Hill, Breitbart, the Daily Beast, and the Washington Examiner. Those that included its results in their polling databases included the New York Times, Nate Silver, VoteHub, and FiftyPlusOne. After Wedgewood’s admission, the election results and analysis site Decision Desk HQ said it had removed 17 polls from its race-level polling lists and averages. The New York Times also stated that all of its polls had been removed from its poll tracking project.