Meghan Trainor: ‘I would keep my daughters off net as long as possible’

Even with her millions of followers, American pop star Meghan Trainor believes kids should not access social media until they are older.

Even with her millions of followers, American pop star Meghan Trainor believes kids should not access social media until they are older.

The 30-year-old has backed The Daily Telegraph’s Let Them Be Kids campaign, which has called on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Communications Minister Michelle Rowland to raise the age children can access social media from 13 to 16.

Trainor has 18.5 million followers on TikTok and a further 18 million on Instagram.

“I think it should be like driving a car, you should have an age limit for sure,” Trainor said.

“I hope to have daughters some day and I hope that they never see the internet for as long as I can.

Singer Meghan Trainor. Picture: Getty Images

“Remember how they used to smoke cigarettes in hospitals and like everywhere? Like, what are we doing now that is so bad it is going to wreck us? “

The other day I was like, ‘oh, it is the comments and the likes, it is the number games.”

Trainor, world famous for her hits including All About That Bass, Dear Future Husband, Like I’m Gonna Lose You, and Me Too, has two young sons — Riley and Barry — with actor partner Daryl Sabara, of Sky Kids movie fame.

While she has had immense success on the charts, social media has been a hugely helpful tool in helping Trainor amplify her content through dance to songs like her Made You Look track.

“I can already see in my three-year-old the addiction to the screens and I can’t imagine if he saw something that upset him … it changes your chemicals forever,” she said.

“It is really rattling on your mental health.”

Grieving parents, mental health experts and advocates have been at the fore of the Let Them Be Kids campaign.

Among them is Sydney mum Emma Mason, who lost her 15-year-old daughter Matilda “Tilly” Rosewarne to suicide in February 2022 after she was subjected to torment in person and online.

This week parents travelled to Canberra to ask Senators and MPs to better regulate the tech giants and raise the minimum age for social media to 16.

Their stories were heard by Labor MPs Daniel Mulino and Kate Thwaites, Coalition communications spokesman David Coleman, Queensland MP Andrew Wallace and Nationals Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price.

It came as News Corp Australasia Executive Chairman Michael Miller addressed the National Press Club and stated tech giants like Meta, TikTok and X need to play by Australian rules.

“In the space of just one generation, we have gone from magic to madness,” he said.

“On social media, bad behaviour is good for business. The social media giants profit from evil videos, bullying, con artists, and glamorising eating disorders.”

Last week, visiting Hollywood star Amy Poehler also supported the campaign, saying: “Young people are growing up in a world of social media (where) in many ways they are more anxious than ever.”

Grammy Award winner Trainor today releases her much anticipated sixth studio album, Timeless.

It is a decade since she became a global star with the release of All About That Bass and she recalled her use of social media as a kid aspiring to success in the competitive industry.

“I wanted to have an account and my parents were like, ‘that is our one rule, you cannot have a Facebook’,” she said.

“I was sneak, it was like a drug, like an addiction. I was like, ‘I’m having a Facebook, who cares’.

“They found my account. They’d print it out on a piece of paper and I’d be grounded. I wanted it so bad and I was young so I feel like it would be cool if they were (older).”

Trainor’s new album meanwhile features 16 tracks, including the single, Been Like This, featuring T-Pain.

She has announced American tour dates for later in the year but is yet to lock in Australian shows.

“This is like the grown up me,” she said.

“I am 10 years in the game … when I hear All About That Bass I hear it like a child, she was like 18 years old and she was a baby and she didn’t know anything.

“I’ve learnt so much, I am almost mature. I still feel 16 but I have a house and a husband and children and I can hear my music, I can hear the 10 years of practice in my songwriting.”