Most people believe information operations had been waged by political parties 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.
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 information, both true and false, they received them during the election and disseminated on social media.
Asked whether they believed information operations had been waged by political parties on social media to attack or smear rivals, a majority or 56.49% said “yes” – 31.22% moderately and 25.27% highly. On the other side, 23.59% said “no”, definitely, and 19.31% said “no” but in a lesser degree. The rest, 0.61%, had no answer or were not interested.
Asked whether they believed political parties had waged information operations on social media to win popularity, a majority or 57.48% said “yes” – 30.08% moderately and 27.40% highly. On the other side, 22.06% said “no” definitely and 19.54% said “no” but in a lesser 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% definitely and 22.21% in a lesser degree. On the other side, 8.17% said “yes”, highly, and 11.76% moderately. The rest, 1.30%, had no answer or were not interested.