Salesforce ‘among the vilest of rogue companies’ for helping Backpage sex traffickers, pimps: lawsuit
As the notorious website Backpage was under fire by legislators and the public over alleged prostitution ads linked by critics to sex trafficking of minors, San Francisco software titan Salesforce stepped in to save the site and help it grow, a new lawsuit claims.
“Salesforce knew the scourge of sex trafficking because it sought publicity for trying to stop it,” the lawsuit filed by 50 “Jane Does” alleged. “But at the same time, this publicly traded company was, in actuality, among the vilest of rogue companies, concerned only with their bottom line.”
The suit claims Salesforce sold a customized database to Backpage that facilitated prostitution and sexual exploitation.
A Salesforce spokesperson said the company doesn’t comment on pending litigation, but said, “We are deeply committed to the ethical and humane use of our products and take these allegations seriously.”
The group of 50 plaintiffs included females sold for sex as minors via Backpage, the suit claimed. The plaintiffs include one female each from East Bay cities Antioch, Martinez and Pittsburgh, plus one from Sacramento, one from Fresno, and four others from elsewhere in California, according to the suit.
“Human beings — many more than just these 50 — were raped and abused,” the suit filed in San Francisco County Superior Court alleged. Each of the 50 were “sexually exploited through the use of Backpage,” and traffickers, pimps and johns communicated with one another on the website, the suit alleged.
The suit claimed Salesforce conspired with Backpage “to assist human traffickers’ sexual exploitation and human trafficking of minors.”
The software giant’s work for Backpage started in 2013, around the time 47 U.S. state attorneys general called the website a “hub of human trafficking” and demanded it be shut down, the suit filed Monday claimed.
“Salesforce stepped in at the same time to help Backpage survive and even grow,” the suit alleged, adding that Salesforce had boasted on Twitter that its technology was being used to combat sex trafficking.
“Salesforce designed and implemented a heavily customized enterprise database tailored for Backpage’s operations, both locally and internationally. With Salesforce’s guidance, Backpage was able to use Salesforce’s tools to market to new ‘users’ — that is, pimps, johns, and traffickers — on three continents.”
Money was at the root of Salesforce’s work for Backpage, the suit alleged. “This profit motivation led to Salesforce continuing its relationship with Backpage and facilitating Backpage’s growth despite knowing what Backpage was being used for, that several Backpage officials were indicted for facilitating trafficking, and that (a) Senate Subcommittee had declared Backpage knowingly facilitated the sex trafficking of minors,” the suit claimed.
Salesforce, headed by CEO Marc Benioff, managed Backpage’s database of pimps and traffickers, and supplied a cloud database where Backpage stored details of its sex-trafficking business, the suit claimed. The website, described in the suit as “the leading online marketplace for commercial sex and sex trafficking” has been seized and shut down by federal authorities, and its former CEO pleaded guilty last year to federal charges including conspiracy and money laundering. Emails about the lawsuit from this news organization to two people who formerly spoke for Backpage did not produce any response.
The suit accuses Salesforce of sex trafficking, negligence and conspiracy, and seeks unspecified damages for the Jane Does, whose identities were concealed to protect their privacy and safety, according to the suit.