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On Monday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reversed (PDF) an online libel case and annulled the award of hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages. The court found that the site was protected under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act , which bars website liability from material created by its users.

The case, known as Sarah Jones v. Dirty World Entertainment Recordings LLC et al., concerns a website known as TheDirty.com. That site allows users to upload anonymous comments, photos, and videos that are almost always of a gossip-minded and salacious nature.

Between October 2009 and January 2010, Sarah Jones, a former cheerleader for the Cincinnati Bengals football team, was the target of a number of posts on the site. The first post provided a photo of her with Shayne Graham, then a kicker with the Bengals. The post alleged that Jones had “slept with every other Bengal Football player. This girl is a teacher too!! You would think with Graham’s paycheck he could attract something a little easier on the eyes Nik!”

More posts ensued, detailing that she was a high school teacher:

Her ex Nate. . cheated on her with over 50 girls in 4 yrs. . in that time he tested positive for Chlamydia Infection and Gonorrhea. . so im sure Sarah also has both. . whats worse is he brags about doing sarah in the gym. . football field. . her class room at the school she teaches at DIXIE Heights.

Court documents show that Jones sent the site’s operator, Nik Richie, also known as Hooman Karamian, “over 27 e-mails, pleading for Richie to remove these posts from the website, to no avail.”

By December 2009, Jones filed a lawsuit, which eventually went to a jury trial and resulted in a mistrial. The second trial, however, found in her favor, and she was awarded $338,000 in damages.

However, the Sixth Circuit found that under Section 230, which bars liability of user-generated material, Richie and Dirty World were not liable.

As the court concluded (PDF):