Trump is ‘interested’ in youth social media ban, daughter-in-law Lara tells ‘Pod Force One’
President Trump is “interested” in the effects of social media on young people and how other countries have been regulating its use, first daughter-in-law Lara Trump told the latest episode of “Pod Force One,” Wednesday.
“I see things like what happened in Australia and what happened in France, where you have a regulatory board that says, ‘We’re going to wait until these kids are at least a little bit older, 15, 16 years old, so they can at least think more about what they’re doing on social media before they go online,'” Eric Trump’s wife told Post writer Miranda Devine.
“And I personally can support that,” he added. “I’m not one for control, but I would be more than happy with a little control in this space, myself as a parent.”
The host of Fox News Channel’s Saturday night show “My View” has voiced her concerns with the president, commented, and responded.
“When I talk to him about the lessons I’ve learned and how a child looks at a screen and their dopamine and their oxytocin and all these feel-good chemicals shoot up, and then you remove the screen, and they all go away,” he recounted, “well, how are they going to go back to that in normal life without the screen? They probably don’t.”
Trump’s administration actions related to social media during his first and second terms have often focused on the platforms’ ability to censor user content.
That sometimes puts the president at odds with allies like the UK or Australia, who want tougher restrictions.
Lara, a mother of two, added that she operates a strict “no screen” policy in their home.
None of their children, under the age of 10, were given access to a phone or iPad.
He said: “They don’t help. “And it frustrates me too, because I go out to dinner and I see all these kids at the tables – and what are they doing?
“They just look at the screen.” Eric and I have been like, ‘We’re not going to do that,’” he confirmed.
So they bring a ball, or they bring a coloring book or something, or they talk to us, so that one day when they grow up, they think they’ll be able to talk to people instead of looking at a screen.
Both Democrats and Republicans have introduced bills to limit children’s access to social media, often through a combination of age verification and other enforcement measures.
Every week, Post writer Miranda Devine sits down for exclusive and candid interviews with Washington’s most influential disruptors on ‘Pod Force One.’ Register here!
The Kids Off Social Media Act, introduced last year by Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), has already cleared the committee and is placed on the Senate calendar for future consideration.
Under this measure, social media companies will be forced to remove all users under the age of 13 from their platforms.
Schools that take government funds will have to prevent children from accessing other social media platforms.
“It’s really scary to think about the consequences 10, 20, 30 years from now on these kids,” said Lara Trump. “I’m afraid that we will have a whole community that is completely depressed because you can’t go back to that level.”
His presidential father-in-law remains “very interested in you,” he said. “I don’t know exactly where he stands, of course I told him where I stand.”
“I think it’s something he’s very passionate about, because, look, we can do everything we want to make our dietary guidelines better, to make food and public schools better,” he added, “but one of the things that will always drive us is going to be social media, it’s going to be screens, it’s going to be that kind of thing.”
