In recent times, countries around the world have been moving to limit children’s access to social media, and that growing push is now edging into US politics. Donald Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, said that the US President has been paying attention to the issue.
Speaking on the New York Post’s podcast, Lara Trump said she had discussed research and regulatory trends with the President.
“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,'” she told host Miranda Devine.
“And I personally would be so in favour of that,” she added.
She said she would support limits on children’s social media use. “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,” Lara Trump said.
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Lara Trump, who is married to Eric Trump and hosts the Fox News programme My View, said she had raised concerns directly with the President.
“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 said, “well, how are they ever going to get back to that in just regular life without a screen? They almost don’t.”
The issue of children’s social media use is being discussed within Trump’s political circle at a time when lawmakers in both major US parties have proposed restrictions on under-age access to platforms, often centred on age-verification requirements and parental consent.
During his previous terms, Trump’s executive actions on social media largely focused on platform moderation and alleged censorship of users, sometimes putting Washington at odds with governments that favour stricter safety rules for minors online.
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Lara Trump also spoke about her own parenting choices, saying she and Eric Trump have adopted a strict no-screen policy for their two children, both under 10.
“They’re on nothing at all. That has been something that we’ve established,” she said. “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 added.
Debates over restricting children’s access to social media have intensified worldwide as several countries imposed curbs on younger users.
Australia approved landmark legislation in 2024 that sets 16 as the minimum age for holding a social media account. The rules include mandatory age-verification checks and heavy fines for platforms that fail to comply.
France has taken a similar path. It now requires parental consent for users under 15 and has been examining tougher enforcement tools, including stronger age-verification systems and possible penalties for companies that allow under-age accounts.
Across the rest of Europe, the push has also gained pace. The United Kingdom has weighed proposals to raise the effective age for social media use and tighten enforcement under its Online Safety framework.
