A federal judge in Houston has issued an unusual ruling finding that a tech company should face trial over the conduct of pimps who promote trafficking victims through its technology.
U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen rejected a request to grant immunity to Salesforce.com, a cloud-based software company in San Francisco.
The company says it shouldn’t have to shoulder responsibility in a lawsuit brought by victims who alleged they were trafficked via Backpage.com, which relied on Salesforce’s operating system.
The suit says the company knowingly developed tailored electronic resources for Backpage so it could track and monitor pimps’ online profiles, likes, dislikes and shopping habits to generate more revenue from traffickers.
The judge ruled that the software company was not immune to lawsuits under the Communications Decency Act, a mid-90s law that represents congress’s early attempt to regulate pornography on the internet.
Hanen wrote that he was granting a partial dismissal of the claims against Salesforce involving negligence and conspiracy but allowing the case to proceed against the software company that related to state and federal sex trafficking statutes.
Backpage — an online classified advertising company that originated as a print product — was shuttered by federal officials in 2018.
Lawyers for Salesforce did not respond to a request for comment.
For a longer version of this article and continuing coverage of the case, please visit HoustonChronicle.com.