In its judgment, the 9th Circuit of the US Appeal Court has ruled that it was an unconstitutional violation of free speech for the State of California to attempt to combat age discrimination by banning IMDb (and other similar sites) from publishing the ages of actors.

Background

Way back in 2011, an anonymous actor sued IMDb for age discrimination. She claimed she had been repeatedly rejected for roles after those hiring discovered her age via the site.

The complaints of other actors led to the passing of AB1687, a new law requiring sites like IMDb to remove actors’ ages upon request. Just months after the new law was enacted by Governor Jerry Brown, IMDb launched legal action to strike down the legislation. Eventually, the case reached the courts and IMDb lost.

In November 2018, IMDb appealed this decision to the 9th Circuit.

The 9th Circuit’s decision

The Court held that AB1687 unlawfully restricted freedom of speech. It found that reducing age discrimination is an important aim, but California should have considered more tailored methods to address the issue without compromising free speech.

Justice Bridget S Bade said "AB 1687 restricts only websites like IMDb.com while leaving unrestricted every other avenue through which age information might be disseminated.” She also wrote that "this presents serious concerns here because AB 1687 appears designed to reach only IMDb."