Statistics used in political campaigns should be backed by accessible evidence

Rejected 18 signatures

What the petition asks

Any statistics used in democratic campaigns, such as referendums or elections, should require evidence in order to be used and that evidence should be made easily accessible (like on a campaign's website). This would promote informed scrutiny of campaigns and the use of statistics based on facts

Misinformation is on the rise and is creeping into democratic processes around the world. The idea behind is not to hinder what can be said, but to make it easier for the public to identify for themselves where statistics have come from untrustworthy or invalid sources, or have be spun in a certain favour.

Why it was rejected

It asked for something that is not the responsibility of the UK Government or Parliament.

The Government isn't responsible for how political campaigns make information supporting their views available.

We could accept a petition calling on the Government to make it illegal to make false or inaccurate claims in political campaign material, if that's something you want to happen.

Timeline

13 Jan 2021	Petition opened for signatures
20 Jan 2021	Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 18

Status Rejected

Rejected 20 Jan 2021

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