Nodes can signal whatever they like, but it’s an unreliable metric. A malicious actor could spin up any number of zombie nodes to Sybil whatever signal they prefer.

This was a concern during the BIP148 UASF of 2017. Many nodes were announcing their intent to enforce the fork, but nobody knew how many of those nodes represented real people’s actual interests.

For this reason, the #UASF campaign on Twitter was an important additional signal showing support.