This kind of bait and switch is really effective on reactionary people with short memories which is apparently the majority of people, at least with the world in the state it's currently in, because a lot of people are frankly just overwhelmed. Democracy is failing because the bad guys are using hacks like this to manipulate and control how the majority of people vote. That's all they need to do, because the majority is exactly what democracy is about. They've metagamed democracy into a contest where they never lose. The only solution is to actually talk to other people and try to break them out of the cycle. I think society is actually really primed for it right now, but it's going to require grassroots work and boots on the ground. They control almost all other forms of media, and attempts to do it online will be poisoned or buried before they can become popular, or they will turn into a liability if they do become popular. The bots are real, the megaphone is real, and they will use it to drown out civilized discourse.