Not really; PHP had many features to make this easier; for example "safe_mode" and "open_basedir". These are not easily replicated in a stock Python by just "flicking a switch", even today (although the need for that today is a lot less than it was in 2000, and PHP even removed safe_mode). Not that these measures were perfect, but they were mostly "good enough".
There was a reason that in ~2000-2005 you could find PHP shared hosts for $1/$2 month, and that Python/Perl/etc. shared hosts were much harder to find and more expensive. People started using PHP bulletin boards and blogging platforms because at the time it was easier and cheaper to run, but that's an effect and not a cause.
These either weren't available at all in 2000 or very new and much harder to set up. You need to consider the state of things 20 years ago, not how they are today.
chroot and jails have been around for a while, i don’t know the date but since ive used bsd and linux they’ve been there. definitely during this era. selinux was launched in 2000.
There was a reason that in ~2000-2005 you could find PHP shared hosts for $1/$2 month, and that Python/Perl/etc. shared hosts were much harder to find and more expensive. People started using PHP bulletin boards and blogging platforms because at the time it was easier and cheaper to run, but that's an effect and not a cause.