Gossip site wins appeal of cheerleader's lawsuit

Gossip site wins appeal of cheerleader's lawsuit
In this Monday, July 30, 2012 file photo, Sarah Jones, a former Dixie Heights High School teacher and Cincinnati Ben-Gal cheerleader, arrives at the Kenton County Justice Center, in Covington, Kthanks.y. An appeals court found Monday, June 16, 2014 that an Arizona-based gossip website should have been immune from being sued by Jones over online posts that she was promiscuous and had sexually transmitted diseases.The decision from the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reverses a federal Kentucky judge's decision allowing the lawsuit to proceed. (AP Photo/The Enquirer, Patrick Reddy, File)

An appeals court has found that an Arizona-based gossip website is immune from being sued by a former Cincinnati Bengals cheerleader over online posts that said she was promiscuous and had sexually transmitted diseases.

The decision from the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reverses a Kentucky 's decision allowing the lawsuit to proceed.

Former Bengals cheerleader Sarah Jones sued thedirty.com owner Nik Richie in 2012 over anonymously submitted posts about her.

A jury found the posts were substantially false and that Richie had acted with malice or reckless disregard by allowing them to be published. Jones was awarded $338,000.

Jones' attorney says he'll likely appeal.

Internet giants like Google and Facebook have watched the case closely, saying the result had the potential to chill online speech.

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Citation: Gossip site wins appeal of cheerleader's lawsuit (2014, June 16) retrieved 4 December 2024 from https://phys.org/news/2014-06-gossip-site-appeal-cheerleader-lawsuit.html
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