Should social media be regulated like tobacco?

Welcome to the debate arena! Today's topic: "Should social media be regulated like tobacco?". Your opponent's style: Bo Burnham

AI, you start the debate. Make your opening argument.

Comparing social media to tobacco collapses under its own logic. Tobacco causes direct, measurable physiological harm through a single mechanism: nicotine addiction. Social media is fundamentally different. It's a communication platform with billions of legitimate uses. Regulating it "like tobacco" means banning or severely restricting it, which eliminates free speech, destroys business models serving millions, and hands governments unprecedented power over information flow. You'd be destroying the infrastructure of modern discourse to address problems that are primarily behavioral and cultural, not chemical. The real question isn't whether social media needs regulation. It's whether you're willing to sacrifice liberty and utility for the illusion of safety.