It's not just your stovetop, it's every non-high-end stove top with touch buttons. I move around a lot and stay in short term rentals. They all have stovetops that stop working if you spill a single drop of water on the controls. It's crazy.
I don't think it's anything to do with touch buttons being easier to clean. I think it's just that they are cheap.
I tend to agree. I have a high end induction cooktop with touch controls, and I don't have the same problem. If I spill water on the capacitive touch buttons it might ding at me because it thinks I just pushed that button, but it doesn't freak out or anything, the buttons all still work.
I did choose the touch version specifically because I was tired of all the work cleaning my natural gas cooktop. Now that I've used it for a few months, I think I'd like the knobs better because the cooktop would still be a lot easier to clean overall, but it's not terrible. My biggest complaint is that the cat walks across it at night and I can hear the dings as it steps on the buttons. And then there's the paw prints on the glass. Sigh.
I don't think it's anything to do with touch buttons being easier to clean. I think it's just that they are cheap.