Business

Internet giants eye cheerleader’s defamation suit

By Amanda Lee Myers
Published May 1, 2014 7:03pm ET
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Internet giants eye cheerleader’s defamation suit
FILE-This Monday, July 30, 2012 file photo shows Sarah Jones, a former Dixie Heights High School teacher and Cincinnati Ben-Gal cheerleader, arriving at the Kenton County Justice Center, in Covington, Kentucky. An appeals court is considering whether an Arizona-based gossip website should have been allowed to be sued for defamation by Jones, convicted of having sex with a teenager. Attorneys for both sides argued their case Thursday, May 1, 2014 before the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/The Enquirer, Patrick Reddy, File) NO SALES | Patrick Reddy

CINCINNATI (AP) — An appeals court heard arguments Thursday over whether a gossip website should have been immune from a defamation lawsuit brought by a former Cincinnati Bengals cheerleader, a case that Internet giants such as Google and Facebook are watching closely.

Nik Richie, owner of The Dirty, based in Scottsdale, Arizona, should have been granted immunity in the case under a 1996 federal law that provides broad immunity to websites, his attorney argued to a three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati.

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