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

Key Points:

• A 21-year-old recent college graduate, Rahil Prakash, created an anonymous website called Median Strategies that published fake election polling data in Wisconsin, Nevada, and California, which was widely shared before the site shut down.
• The site described the project as a "short-term social experiment" to test how easily fake polling could infiltrate the political information ecosystem, with Prakash admitting surprise at how quickly the false data spread, including being cited by politicians like Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.
• Median Strategies' fake polls inaccurately showed candidates leading by large margins, influencing public perception ahead of elections, and Prakash apologized to affected campaigns, stressing the need for greater scrutiny of polling data.
• Prakash developed the website using artificial intelligence and worked alone, with no financial benefit or outside funding involved, and denied engaging in any prediction market activities based on the fake polls.
• The American Association of Political Consultants condemned the project as deceptive and harmful to voters, the press, and political campaigns relying on accurate public data.