California passes law requiring websites to remove actors’ ages

CALIFORNIA governor Jerry Brown has signed legislation requiring entertainment database sites, such as IMDb, to remove an actor’s age if requested by the actor.

The legislation, authored by Majority Leader Ian Calderon, D-Whittier, was signed into law on Saturday by Brown, according to the governor’s web site.

“Subscribers should have control over whether their age and date of birth are posted on subscription websites used for employment purposes,” Calderon said in June.

“AB 1687 provides a necessary clarification in the law that will help prevent age-based discrimination for individuals seeking employment in the entertainment industry.”

SAG-AFTRA lobbied for the legislation with President Gabrielle Carteris.

“Age discrimination is a major problem in our industry, and it must be addressed,” she said in a Sept 16 post. “SAG-AFTRA has been working hard for years to stop the career damage caused by the publication of performers’ dates of birth on online subscription websites used for casting like IMDb. We are now in the final stages of securing the enactment of a California law that would help combat age discrimination by giving performers the right to request the removal of their date of birth when it’s included on online subscription sites.”

Opponents of the bill contended that removal of factually accurate age information across websites suppresses free speech.

Calderon said AB 1687 specifies that online entertainment employment service providers have five days to comply with a subscriber’s request to remove age information. — Reuters