Seems plausible.
It’s amusing if the GB have contrived to bring about the worst of all worlds for themselves where they have failed to convince governments that their policy on shunning has actually changed (because technically it hasn’t) but ordinary JWs have perceived the new wording as permission to end shunning if they wish.
They were perhaps aiming for a formulation of words that allowed them to pretend the policy had substantially changed while keeping the practice in place, but may have ended up with the reverse.