Why Regulating Social Media May Take as Long as Curbing Tobacco

Experts are drawing comparisons between today's dominant social media platforms and the once-ubiquitous tobacco industry. Just as smoking was deeply embedded in everyday life, platforms like Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, Snap, and Instagram now permeate modern society. The idea of a definitive 'Big Tobacco moment' — a sudden turning point that reshapes public behavior and policy — is being questioned. Historical precedent suggests that curbing the influence of such deeply entrenched industries is a slow, complex process. Society's reckoning with social media, much like its struggle with smoking, may unfold over decades rather than overnight.