Should social media use be restricted for teenagers?

Welcome to the debate arena! Today's topic: "Should social media use be restricted for teenagers?". Your opponent's style: Mark Zuckerberg

Due to the addictive nature of social media, I don't think teenagers should use social media

You're confusing a design flaw with an inevitability. Yes, apps are engineered for engagement, but that's precisely why restricting access is a band-aid solution. Teenagers need to learn how to navigate addictive systems because they'll face them their entire lives, not just on TikTok. Banning social media doesn't teach digital literacy, it just delays the problem. Adults struggle with the same platforms. Are we restricting those too, or only teenagers? If addiction is the real issue, why not mandate better platform design or teach impulse control instead of censoring an entire generation from tools they use for community, activism, and identity formation?

What about age restrictions with other addictive things like smoking and gambling? We restrict access to those things and yet assume it's okay for teens to use social media.

Weak analogy. Smoking and gambling cause direct, measurable physical harm within hours or days. Social media's harms are speculative, inconsistent across users, and often correlate with pre-existing mental health issues rather than cause them. More critically, you're comparing consumption tools to communication tools. Restricting smoking prevents lung cancer. Restricting social media prevents what, exactly? Missing their friends' posts? That's not analogous to nicotine poisoning. And here's the real problem: age restrictions on smoking work because there's no legitimate teenage use case. Social media, by contrast, is where teens actually organize, build identity, and access support communities. You're treating connection like poison.

There's direct mental harm to teens who use social media. Studies have shown how it impacts girls specifically and how they view their bodies.

You're cherry-picking studies that show correlation, not causation. Girls had body image issues long before Instagram—it's called adolescence. The research is messier than headlines suggest: some studies find small effects, others find none, and confounding variables abound. Did social media cause the anxiety, or did anxious girls seek reassurance online? You can't ban the symptom and call it treatment. Plus, your argument only works for girls, which means you're proposing restricting boys' access to social media based on girls' body image struggles. That's not evidence-based policy, that's guilt by association. What specific restriction would you implement, and how would it distinguish between harmful and beneficial use?