A California appeals court has dismissed a lawsuit claiming Bay Area software giant Salesforce helped pimps and human traffickers by providing a database and services to a website that featured adult ads.
Backpage has been shut down by federal authorities, and ex-CEO Carl Ferrer in 2018 pleaded guilty to conspiracy to facilitate prostitution; several Backpage-related corporate entities pleaded guilty to conspiracy to engage in money laundering. Backpage co-founders Michael Lacey and James Larkin and four former Backpage employees are charged with facilitating prostitution and money laundering in a federal case in Arizona that resulted in a mistrial in September over the prosecution’s conduct.
Goldman noted that Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff called for abolition of Section 230 when he attacked Facebook over purported “propaganda” on the social-network site, but Salesforce successfully used that law to get the Jane Does’ lawsuit dismissed.