Attorney General Ashley Moody today urged the Florida Department of Management Services to look into its vendor, SalesForce, Inc., a company that provided technical support to Backpage.com. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Postal Inspection Service and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division seized Backpage.com last year as part of an ongoing federal investigation into sex trafficking. The company, SalesForce, Inc., is now being sued by victims of human trafficking, including a victim from Jacksonville.
Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “As Chair of the Statewide Council on Human Trafficking, I want to make sure taxpayer money is not helping fund or facilitate the sexual exploitation of women and children. For years, human traffickers used Backpage.com to sell victims for sex, many of them minors.
“According to a recent complaint, SalesForce helped facilitate this abhorrent and illegal behavior. I am asking the Florida Department of Management Services to seek additional information from SalesForce to better understand the company’s relationship with Backpage.com. As a state, we should not do business with any company that condones or abets such horrifying conduct.”
The letter sent this afternoon requests that DMS share any findings with the Florida Attorney General’s Office and determine whether Florida should maintain its contract with SalesForce.
To read the letter, click here.
To view the complaint, click here.
