A mysterious company called Median Strategies posted fake election poll numbers online. The fabricated results were shared across three states, including California. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass had cited one of these polls as evidence her campaign was gaining momentum, but the truth about the fake poll emerged shortly after.

The company admitted to creating the fake polls as a social experiment. Median Strategies wrote that it aimed to examine how unverified polling information could spread through the political ecosystem. The company's website was shut down this week.

Further details about the incident and the company's intentions are available from the Los Angeles Times, which reported on the admission by Median Strategies.