>an idea these agencies themselves would like perpetuated to make it seem resistance is futile.

Quite the opposite - the conspiratorial reaction is that these agencies want to be mistaken for bumbling bureaucracies, so they let reports of small-level stuff get out. That way we underestimate the real degree of their control and believe that if they ever tried to manipulate us, they would get caught anyway, and besides, they're just making unsuccessful tweets, right?

Or even deeper, that these organizations are meant to distract us from much more powerful entities who they don't even realize they are controlled by.

I don't believe any of this, but the conspiracy theorists deserve more credit for creativity that you are giving them!