False surveys from companies not accredited by the ERC have been circulating on social media.
Professors and academic researchers in the field of disinformation and political communication consider, to Lusa, that in the current electoral campaign, immigration and the circulation of fake polls are the main themes of disinformation.
Political communication researcher at the University of Lisbon Susana Salgado has noted, in the current electoral race, "the circulation of fake polls on social media, carried out by companies not accredited by the ERC [Communication Regulatory Entity] and whose methodology may not be reliable".
Recently, the ERC stated that in the context of the legislative elections of May 18th, "it has identified the publication of alleged electoral opinion studies on social media, which do not correspond to polls carried out by companies accredited by the ERC". Susana Salgado also adds that "the production of daily polls is also not exactly a good editorial decision, since it can in itself have this manipulative effect (even if it is not intentional)".
In turn, for João Pedro Batista, professor at the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, the issue of immigration seeks to "normalize or legitimize certain discourses, namely to create environments of insecurity", taking advantage of this fear to influence the stability of the Portuguese, stating that "misinformation is very opportunistic, with regard to the topics, the coverage that is done and lives very much in the moment and the situation".
Sara Pina, a professor at Universidade Lusófona and Universidade Nova de Lisboa, also believes that, "in terms of recent messages from the electoral campaign, immigration is a good example", explaining that establishing a correlation between immigration and the increase in crime is an "ignorant cause-effect assessment, it is wrong, it is false, but very easy to do".
In turn, the vice-rector of the Catholic University of Portugal, Nelson Ribeiro, explains that "there are many voters who feel that their lifestyle is under threat and, therefore, it is necessary to identify who the scapegoats are and it must always be someone who is easily identifiable", for example immigrants.
If people already feel some discomfort with the topic, "they will more easily believe any false content that may be circulating", saying "that other parties, namely the PS and the PSD, ignored the topic for several years", contributing to the current panorama.
"There was, in fact, a social perception that something was not right with immigration. And for a long time the two largest parties said: 'no, everything is fine, there is no problem, everything is under control'. Therefore, from the moment that some lack of control is assumed, this opens a gap for the circulation of misinformation", said Nelson Ribeiro.
A recent report by MediaLab mentions, for example, that "the dissemination of a video with unfounded allegations regarding the number of immigrants in Portugal was identified", the audio of which "is supposedly from a security guard working at the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA)", which claims that the number of immigrants in Portugal in April 2025 was more than 1.9 million.
Preliminary data from AIMA, released earlier this month, indicate that, at the end of December 2024, 1,546,521 foreign citizens were registered in Portugal.