50 women accuse Salesforce of profiting from their sex trafficking

Salesforce accused of profiting from sex trafficking
(Image credit: Getty Images)

In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in San Francisco, 50 women accuse Salesforce.com of profiting from and facilitating their exploitation by sex traffickers. Salesforce knowingly provided defunct ad site Backpage.com with customized tools to market prostitutes to "pimps, johns, and traffickers who had been underusing its trafficking services," the suit alleges.

Salesforce, whose philanthropic endeavors include helping host an anti-human-trafficking event in April, "knew the scourge of sex trafficking because it sought publicity for trying to stop it," the lawsuit says. But actually, it is "among the vilest of rogue companies, concerned only with their bottom line."

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.