President Trump has been “taking an interest” in the effects of social media on youngsters and how other countries have been regulating its use, first daughter-in-law Lara Trump told the latest episode of “Pod Force One,” out Wednesday.
“I see things like what has happened in Australia and what has happened in France, where you have a regulatory body saying, ‘We’re going to wait until these kids are at least a little bit older, 15, 16 years old, in order to at least process a little more what they’re doing in the social media space before they get online,’” the wife of Eric Trump told Post columnist Miranda Devine.
“And I personally would be so in favor of that,” she added. “I’m not much of one for regulating things, but I would be very happy with a little bit of regulation in this space, just personally as a parent.”
The host of Fox News Channel’s Saturday night program “My View” has also aired her concerns with the president, she noted, and he’s been receptive.
“When I talk to him about the studies that I’ve read and the way that a kid looks at a screen and their dopamine and their oxytocin and all these feel-good chemicals are firing, and then you take the screen away, and those all go away,” she recounted, “well, how are they ever going to get back to that in just regular life without a screen? They almost don’t.”
Trump’s executive actions related to social media during his first and second terms have often focused on the platforms’ ability to censor user content.
That’s sometimes put the president at odds with allied nations like the UK or Australia, who push for more aggressive restrictions.
Lara, a mother of two, added that she employs a strict “no-screen policy” at their home.
Neither of their kids, both under the age of 10, have been given access to a phone or iPad.
“They’re on nothing at all. That has been something that we’ve established,” she stated. “And it frustrates me too, because I go out to dinner and I see all these kids at tables — and what are they doing?
“They’re just watching the screen. Eric and I, a long time ago, we’re like, ‘We’re not going to do that,’” she affirmed.
“So they bring a football with them, or they bring a coloring book with them or something, or they talk to us, so that one day when they’re adults, imagine that, they’re going to have the ability to converse with people instead of look at a screen.”
Both Democrats and Republicans have introduced bills to limit children’s access to social media platforms, usually through a combination of age-verification and other enforcement mechanisms.
Every week, Post columnist Miranda Devine sits down for exclusive and candid conversations with the most influential disruptors in Washington on ‘Pod Force One.’ Subscribe here!
The Kids Off Social Media Act, introduced last year by Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), has already cleared committee and been placed on the Senate calendar for future consideration.
Under the measure, social media companies would be forced to keep all users under the age of 13 off their platforms.
Schools that take federal funds would also have to block children from accessing some social networks.
“It’s actually frightening to consider the implications of this 10, 20, 30 years from now for these kids,” Lara Trump reflected. “I’m terrified we’re going to have an entire society that’s totally depressed because they can’t get back to that level.”
Her presidential father-in-law remains “very interested in it,” she noted. “I don’t know exactly where he stands. I’ve certainly told him where I stand on it.”
“I think it’s something that he’s taking an interest in, because, look, we can do all we want to make our nutrition guidelines better, to make the food supply and public schools better,” she added, “but one of the things that is going to always kind of be over us will be social media, will be screens, will be that sort of thing.”
