It's a simple recipe

Have well funded shit project (shitrea) with one substantial (lack of covenants) problem point to an irrelevant problem (filter/relay)

Irrelevant problem is technically immaterial but symbolically divisive

Amplify virtue signals and tribal instincts

With tribe supplicants now loyal, resistance to bigger objective is turned into support

No different than party politics, hegelian dialectics, same playbook.