Yes. They created a forum of peer pressure, that npcs will mimic. With slight bot influence on both subject and material they manifested whatever water cooler talk they wanted. Artificial ai peers were put there, yes - but they also propelled commenters that aligned with them to the top, creating a self-govorning echo chamber and comments that could be counted on to stay with the messaging. The extreme left got megaphones while moderates, independents, and conservatives got silenced and buried.