The Internet Movie Database, the web’s largest resource of film and TV information, is revising its policy on whether birth names must be included in talent profiles.
The site – which is now a subsidiary of Amazon, and whose professional iteration, IMDb Pro, is widely used as an industry resource – was responding to a June protest by a US coalition of LGBTQ+ groups. These bodies complained about IMDb’s practice of “deadnaming” – revealing birth details without the subject’s consent.
Variety reported that a spokesperson for the site announced the revision to them on Monday, saying: “IMDb now permits the removal of birth names if the birth name is not broadly publicly known and the person no longer voluntarily uses their birth name.”
They continued: “To remove a birth name either the person concerned or their professional industry representative simply needs to contact IMDb’s customer support staff to request a birth name removal.
“Once the IMDb team determines that an individual’s birth name should be removed – subject to this updated process – we will review and remove every occurrence of their birth name within their biographical page on IMDb.”
Laverne Cox, one of the trans actors who had been “deadnamed” by IMDb, had previously called it “the ultimate insult.” Speaking in June, Nick Adams, director of trans representation at GLAAD, said:
“To reveal a transgender person’s birth name without their explicit permission is an invasion of privacy that only serves to undermine the trans person’s true authentic identity, and can put them at risk for discrimination, even violence.”
Other groups protesting included the National LGBTQ Task Force, the Transgender Law Center, the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund, Transcend Legal, Inc and Equality Federation.
In April, two actors anonymously spoke to IndieWire, saying that they felt IMDb had disrespected their identities and failed to support them through the transition process.
One actor said it took several months of campaigning before IMDb agreed to remove their birth name – and although it was changed on their profile, their birth name still appeared in the “bio” section and next to the roles they played.
“It feels very exposing to have that information out there against my will as it is a private thing,” said the actor, “and I would like to choose who I get to share it with.
“With all the trans-related violence and murder, it seems very obtuse to refuse to remove information that could quite literally put people in danger.”
However, such information will continue to be featured on the site in some circumstances, with an IMDb spokesperson confirming that where someone is credited on a project by their birth name, this will appear on the site in parentheses to preserve “the factual historical record by accurately reflecting what is listed on-screen”.
Online databases such as Wikipedia do not publish the birth names of trans people, while Twitter considers deadnaming and misgendering a violation of its Hateful Conduct policy.