“Segregate-and-Suppress:” A Solution in Search of a Solution
Viv Daniel
I. Introduction
The following paper is an analysis of Eric Goldman’s 2025 article published in the Stanford Technology Law Review, The “Segregate-and-Suppress” Approach to Regulating Child Safety Online.[1] Goldman’s article identifies an emerging legislative trend meant to protect children online, which he terms “segregate-and-suppress,” and argues that this legislative strategy is misguided because it damages privacy online, it is detrimental to the online information ecosystem, and it hurts many of the very children it was designed to protect. A segregate-and-suppress law is a law targeting publishers of content and information via websites and/or apps, which requires a publisher to distinguish between users on the basis of age, and to limit access to content for users deemed to be minors.[2]
This paper will begin by describing the problem that segregate-and-suppress was created to solve, to give context to the creation and implementation of these laws. Next, it will provide examples of the kinds of laws which fall under Goldman’s scrutiny and describe Goldman’s critiques of segregate-and-suppress and his alternative suggestions to it. Finally, this paper will evaluate the strength of Goldman’s arguments and proposed alternate solutions. This paper posits that, while Goldman’s argument is valuable to an honest debate of the topic, it would be strengthened by acknowledging the extent of the problem segregate-and-suppress is meant to solve, and by giving more consideration to the breadth of compromise-driven solutions available to alleviate threats to children’s safety online.