The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has allowed a civil lawsuit against Salesforce to proceed, testing the boundaries of liability for technology companies that provide services to platforms engaged in illegal activities. The case, G.G. v. Salesforce, centers on whether providing business infrastructure to a known trafficking venture constitutes participation under federal anti-trafficking law. The lawsuit was brought under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) by a survivor of child sex trafficking. It alleges that Salesforce knowingly benefited from providing customized software to Backpage, a classifieds website whose adult services section was a leading platform for trafficking.
According to the complaint, 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. An Illinois federal court initially dismissed the case, but a split Seventh Circuit panel reversed that decision on August 3, 2023. The court held that the allegations were sufficient to proceed under the TVPA. Salesforce later sought rehearing, arguing the ruling stretched the statute too far, but the Seventh Circuit declined to revisit the decision in October 2023.
The legal framework at issue involves the TVPA, which allows survivors to sue anyone who knowingly benefits from participation in a sex trafficking venture. The law doesn't require proof that a defendant directly trafficked victims or intended harm. Instead, a claim can proceed if the plaintiff alleges the defendant knowingly received something of value from participating in a venture that engaged in sex trafficking, while knowing or having reason to know about the trafficking. Salesforce relied on free speech principles and Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which generally prevents online platforms from being treated as publishers of third-party content.
The company argued the claims attempted to impose liability based on content posted by others. However, the Seventh Circuit rejected that framing at this stage, differentiating between publishing speech and providing services that allegedly helped a trafficking operation succeed. The ruling did not decide the case on the merits but held that Section 230 does not automatically bar claims based on non-expressive conduct. The dissenting judges expressed concern that the ruling could broaden liability for companies doing business with bad actors. The majority, however, held that free speech protections don't extend to shielding companies from accountability if their conduct supports criminal exploitation.
This case represents a significant examination of when business relationships cross into complicity, particularly as law enforcement agencies repeatedly identified Backpage as a trafficking hub before federal authorities eventually seized the website. Civil lawsuits under the TVPA can provide compensation for physical and emotional harm while exposing systems that allow trafficking to persist. The G.G. v. Salesforce case shows that courts may allow survivors to proceed if they can plausibly show a defendant knowingly participated and benefited from a trafficking venture, even without direct interaction with the survivor. Each claim depends on specific facts, particularly what the defendant knew, when they knew it, and how their conduct supported the venture.
