August, 20 2018, 12:00am EDT
Internet Activists Turn Up the Heat on Salesforce over Border Patrol Contract
New DropSalesforce.com campaign targets company with crowdfunded bus ads near its headquarters in San Francisco, calls on speakers and vendors to pull out of flagship Dreamforce conference
WASHINGTON
Today, Fight for the Future launched a website that targets Salesforce and the tech company's contract with Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The digital rights group is crowdfunding to run prominent advertisements on commuter buses in San Francisco in the immediate vicinity of Salesforce Headquarters ahead of its flagship yearly conference, Dreamforce.
DropSalesforce.com also features: an open letter signed by dozens of organizations, many of whom are threatening to join a boycott if the company does not cancel the contract, as well as a tool that allows human rights supporters to tweet at speakers who are scheduled to appear at Dreamforce, calling on them to pull out of the conference if Salesforce does not do the right thing.
See the site and crowdfunding campaign here: https://www.dropsalesforce.com
"Salesforce is helping Border Patrol violate human rights," read the bus ads that will frequent downtown San Francisco, "Don't work for them. Don't use their products. Don't go to their conference."
"Salesforce prides itself on being a socially aware and responsible company, but they are showing otherwise by refusing to drop their contract with a government agency that has and is clearly violating human rights" said Jelani Drew, campaigner for Fight for the Future, "In history, tech has been used to drive the human suffering, oppression, and tragedy. It's time for Salesforce executives to pick which side of history to be on and what they want their legacy to be."
Since the news broke of Salesforce's multimillion dollar Border Patrol contract, activists across the country have protested, employees have organized, and a steadily growing coalition of organizations that are Salesforce customers have called on the company to cut ties with CBP. Salesforce has refused, made excuses, and attempted to sweep the issue under the rug.
In response, RAICES, one of the nation's leading immigrants rights groups, recently refused a $250,000 donation from Salesforce, and Wrecking Ball Coffee Roasters pulled out of catering their conference. The pressure will only continue to increase in the coming weeks.
Fight for the Future is a group of artists, engineers, activists, and technologists who have been behind the largest online protests in human history, channeling Internet outrage into political power to win public interest victories previously thought to be impossible. We fight for a future where technology liberates -- not oppresses -- us.
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[image or embed]
— aljazeera.com (@aljazeera.com) May 5, 2025 at 6:20 AM
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