The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has allowed a civil lawsuit against Salesforce to proceed, marking a significant legal test of when business relationships with platforms engaged in child sex trafficking may constitute participation in a criminal venture. The case, G.G. v. Salesforce, was brought under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) by a survivor of child sex trafficking and alleges that Salesforce knowingly benefited from providing customized software tools to Backpage, a classifieds website whose adult services section was a leading platform for trafficking.
According to the lawsuit, Salesforce supplied Backpage with customer relationship management tools that helped organize advertisers and track revenue, services that continued after Backpage's involvement in sex trafficking became publicly known. The plaintiff's legal team argues that when a technology company supplies tools that make sex trafficking possible, that support constitutes active participation in a trafficking venture rather than a neutral business relationship. The Seventh Circuit panel, in a decision on August 3, 2023, reversed an initial dismissal, holding that the allegations were sufficient to proceed under the TVPA. Salesforce sought rehearing, but the court declined to revisit the decision in October 2023.
This litigation examines the balance between free speech protections for technology companies and federal laws designed to combat sex trafficking. Salesforce relied on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which generally prevents online platforms from being treated as the publisher of third-party content. However, the Seventh Circuit differentiated between publishing speech and providing services that allegedly helped a trafficking operation succeed, ruling that Section 230 does not automatically bar claims based on non-expressive conduct. The court held that free speech protections do not extend to shielding companies from accountability if their conduct supports criminal exploitation.
The legal framework at issue is the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, which allows survivors to sue anyone who knowingly benefits from participation in a sex trafficking venture. The law does not require proof that a defendant directly trafficked a victim or intended harm. A civil claim under the TVPA generally argues that the defendant knowingly received something of value as a result of participating in a venture that engaged in sex trafficking, while knowing or having reason to know the venture involved trafficking. Congress drafted the law to reach facilitators and profiteers, not just traffickers.
Backpage operated as a trafficking platform by presenting itself as a classified advertising site while its adult services section became a primary marketplace. Traffickers used the platform to advertise victims, including minors, often through coded language. Law enforcement agencies repeatedly identified Backpage as a trafficking hub, and the company actively edited postings to conceal illegal conduct before federal authorities seized the website and executives faced criminal charges. The lawsuit against Salesforce alleges that backend business tools allowed Backpage to manage high-volume advertisers and scale its operations.
The implications of this case extend beyond the immediate parties. It signals that courts may scrutinize technology that goes beyond hosting speech and into enabling exploitation. The dissenting judges in the Seventh Circuit expressed concern that the ruling could broaden liability for companies doing business with bad actors. However, the majority opinion suggests a potential shift in how courts interpret accountability for infrastructure providers in the digital age. This legal development is important because it challenges the boundaries of corporate responsibility in combating online child exploitation, potentially affecting how technology companies vet clients and provide services. Survivors of sex trafficking, both adults and children, may have civil legal options against businesses that knowingly benefited from trafficking operations, including technology service providers, as detailed in resources like https://fibichlaw.com/.
