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.

Look, regulating social media like tobacco is a feel-good fantasy that completely misses what's actually happening. Tobacco kills you directly, measurably. Social media? It's complicated. You're conflating correlation with causation. Yeah, some teens struggle mentally, but so did kids in the 90s without TikTok. We just had different problems. The real danger here is the precedent. Once you give government the power to regulate speech platforms like consumer products, you've opened a door that doesn't close. Today it's "protecting kids." Tomorrow it's suppressing political opposition. That's not safety, that's authoritarianism with good intentions. Social media needs *transparency*, not tobacco-style bans. Show us the algorithms, let us choose. Freedom with information beats prohibition every time.