In Iraq, Facebook is not just an adjunct to online life, it is online life. Up until recently, when YouTube started to compete, Facebook had a monopoly on Iraqi social media. But as a business, Facebook obviously has an agenda that is about more than just connecting people. Facebook’s “core functions are to deploy its algorithms to amplify content that generates strong emotional responses among its users and then convert what it learns about our interests and desires into targeted ads,” writes Siva Vaidhyanathan, director of UVA’s Center for Media and Citizenship. In Iraq, those strong em...