Most people believe political parties issued misinformation during the lead-up to the May 14 election, both to smear rivals and to win popularity, according to a survey by the National Institute of Development Administration, or Nida Poll.
Asked whether they believed the parties used social media to attack or smear rivals, a majority or 56.49% said "yes" - 31.22% to a moderate degree and 25.27% a lot. On the other side, 23.59% said "definitely not", while 19.31% said "yes, but only to a small degree". The rest, 0.61%, had no answer or were not interested.
Asked whether they believed political parties had posted misinformation on social media to win popularity, a majority or 57.48% said "yes" – 30.08% to a moderate extent and 27.40% a lot. On the other side, 22.06% said "definitely not" and 19.54% said "yes, but only to a small degree". The rest, 0.92%, had no answer or were not interested.
Asked whether they believed other countries had interfered in the election, a majority or 78.77% said "no" – 56.56% "not at all" and 22.21% "to a small degree". On the other side, 8.17% said "yes, a lot" and 11.76% somewhat. The rest, 1.30%, had no answer or were not interested.
The poll was carried out on May 18-22 by telephone interviews with 1,310 people aged 18 and over of various levels of education, occupations and incomes throughout the country to compile their opinions on the information, both true and false, issued by the parties and disseminated on social media.