Depends on how far you want to assume nefariousness/conspiracy on the part of "TPTB" or the government. Could just be that it was to help swing a election, or

Depends on how far you want to assume nefariousness/conspiracy on the part of "TPTB" or the government. Could just be that it was to help swing a election, or allowed them to paint certain parties as "anti-vaxxer conspiracy theorists". Maybe it's to cover-up nighttime movements by a secretive alien invasion force. Maybe they just love what it's doing to the stock market. Perhaps it's a bold move by online retailers to kill off small businesses or just brick and mortar ones. Maybe they're desensitizing us for something bigger. Maybe they're just incompetent AF and following along with what the media makes them think is what the people want. Maybe it's all ad-click and media-consumption driven as one of the other posters put it. My personal take is that they have no clue, and most of those in power are just doing things that have been done before and doing them only in ways that have been done previously.