Researcher Hanwen Zhang warned that malicious polls and figures are having a negative impact on political discussion in Colombia. She explained that several examples have generated controversy and misinformation over the past year.
The first of these is the Bank of the Republic document that warned of the possible "loss of 450,000 jobs" if the labor reform is approved. Zhang questioned the validity of this calculation and its use in public debate.
Secondly, he mentioned the Mira party survey, also related to labor reform, which presented problems in data collection, a low response rate, and alleged manipulation of results.
Finally, she pointed to the Fenalco study, which states that the tax on healthy food would be seriously affecting shopkeepers. For Zhang, such reports lack sufficient rigor to be used as a reference.
Zhang warned that politicians cite these studies without investigating their quality, which contributes to the spread of unreliable information in public debate.