Salesforce Escapes Sex Trafficking Lawsuit Using Section 230

Salesforce.com Inc. escaped claims that it violated federal anti-sex trafficking laws, after a Chicago federal judge said the company’s customer service platform was shielded by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

Even if it wasn’t protected by Section 230, Judge Andrea R. Wood said, Salesforce showed that it didn’t knowingly benefit or participate in an online sex trafficking venture that was advertised on the now-defunct classifieds website Backpage.com, a competitor to Craigslist.

The parent of a sex trafficking victim called G.G. sued Salesforce in 2020, alleging the company’s customer relationship management software allowed Backpage to become “a dominant force ...