I find it hard to believe that there’s some agenda against friends out there. What I find much easier to believe is the auto industry lobbying against public transport and for urban sprawl.
Freedom of assembly / association is not something that's neutral, politically. In certain regimes, it has been explicitly banned to gather in groups. It others, it has been recognized as an essential human right, and law has been made to recognize this.
So if you take this into account, there could very well be an agenda. But I don't think so either - I think isolation is just a byproduct currently. But I also think that it's a still a useful one - isolated people are easier to control, and unhappiness drives business.