I don't necessarily agree with your example because it is "political" ( I would have used something else as an example even though I "get" your point) but I agree with your over all assertion that digital technology is/will take over the web leading to digital puppets. In fact, I think that to some extent it is happening now. 
Digital manipulation has been employed for years by the movie industry and who knows whoever else has used it on all sorts of things.
I did check out your example. It is amazing and scary. Horrific visions of a world controlled by Bots.
Civil (which is being used by this publication and a few other on-line publications) which I refer to as a Bot, because the Bot doesn't judge or understand what your comment is, it only tallies by your "votes" and the votes by others and is set to look for certain "words"  being used as inappropriate. It can be, and I maintain it has been, manipulated by cyber savvy people to muzzle those they want silence and to shape opinion.