The company, which called itself Median Strategies, published three public opinion polls for the Los Angeles mayoral election and the gubernatorial elections in Wisconsin and Nevada.

On Monday ( 17^th August), company told the LA Times that a poll claiming Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass was leading councilmember Nithya Raman by a wide margin was created as a “short-term social experiment”.

The results of the bogus ‘polls’ had been reported on by national media. The company’s background and leadership remains unknown and it is unclear who fabricated the polls and whether the company had ever conducted any survey research.

A statement on the company’s website said the polling project had concluded, that it would not publish additional polls, and that previously published polling releases had been withdrawn and “should not be cited or treated as genuine”.

The message read: “Median Strategies 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.”

A further message stated that no individual involved with Median Strategies received compensation or financial benefit from the project, and the project “was not funded, commissioned, or directed by any candidate, campaign, political party, PAC, media organization, or other outside entity”.

Additionally, the company said in the statement that it had not undertaken the project “for financial gain or to influence the value of any financial or prediction-market position”.

Anita Watkins, chief executive of the Insights Association, said: “What happened with Median Strategies wasn’t research; it was fabrication dressed up to look like research.

“Deceptive practices in political and public opinion polling pop up from time to time, particularly ‘push polls’, and legitimate researchers draw a clear ethical line against them. Real insights professionals follow rigorous methodologies, are transparent about how their work is conducted, and are accountable to professional and ethical standards. Insights work has become so valuable that bad actors can seek to imitate it – and the legitimate industry strives to expose the difference.”

The Insights Association “takes fraud seriously,” Watkins added, “whether from bad actors targeting insights work or people/organisations falsely presenting themselves as researchers.”

She added: “Trust is the foundation of our profession, exemplified in the IA Code of Standards and Ethics, and protecting that trust requires transparency, accountability, and consequences for misconduct.”

Typically, legitimate polling organisations must disclose the sponsors or clients funding a poll, as well as methodological details about their polls, in accordance with ethical codes and disclosure standards for opinion polling produced by the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR).

In a statement published on its website, the AAPOR said it “strongly condemns the fabrication of data in any polling or public opinion research” and said intentionally misleading the public is a breach of ethics and undermines legitimate polling. 

Mary Losch, president of AAPOR, said in the statement: “It is extremely disturbing that this organisation produced and distributed fabricated data undermining trust in public opinion and election polling.

“Professional polling organisations are transparent, ethical, and work hard to provide critical information to the public and other stakeholders. It is important that we don’t conflate fraudulent activity like this with legitimate election polling.”