Fake Social‑Media Polls Skew Campaigns

Fabricated polls posted on platforms like X can create a transient but powerful appearance of momentum or collapse for candidates, shaping media narratives, campaign strategy, and voter perceptions even when the underlying numbers are false. Those false signals can prompt real resource shifts (ads, staffing, messaging) and influence turnout decisions in narrow races. — If platforms let fake polls spread, they can distort electoral incentives and outcomes, making poll provenance and platform moderation a matter of electoral integrity.