hootsuite is heading for an ICEberg

Hi,

First and foremost, we want to be very clear about one thing: fuck ICE.

Now that’s off our chest, let’s get into it.

Last week, it was announced that Vancouver-based social media company, Hootsuite, secured a new contract with ICE. The same ICE that has turned several US cities into military states. The same ICE that murdered Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti in broad daylight in the streets of Minneapolis over the last few weeks.

If Hootsuite’s involvement with ICE sounds familiar to you, it’s because this isn’t Hootsuite’s first time here.

In 2020, a Hootsuite employee blew the whistle about the company’s proposed $1.5M contract with ICE. A few weeks later, she was fired, leading to internal and external backlash. The company went into crisis PR mode before announcing it would terminate the contract, framing the move as values-aligned and responsive to employee concerns.

At the time, the takeaway seemed clear: pressure works.

Now over 5 years later, at a moment where ICE’s impact is at its most violent and destructive, Hootsuite’s values position seems to have changed.

That's strange, because tech companies love core values. They treat them as foundational—necessary for decision-making, hiring, and employee performance evaluation.

But what happens when leadership makes decisions that directly contradict those values?

And more importantly... who evaluates the company then?

I can’t fathom the mental gymnastics required to justify this contract a second time—a deal that allegedly took years and almost 10 visits to ICE headquarters to secure. I also can’t fathom the level of ICE ass-kissing it took for Hootsuite to win that contract back, but according to reporting by The Globe and Mail, it involved promising ICE real-time dashboards tracking public discussion of ICE roundups, including street-level geolocation capabilities. *shivers*

Hootsuite’s current relationship with ICE is intentional. It represents material and operational support.

Let’s run it back to some highlights from Hootsuite’s values and mission page:

• “Inclusion is at the heart of what we do.”
• “We strive to positively impact our employees, customers, and communities.”
• “Our purpose is to champion the power of human connection.”

So what happens when values stop mattering the moment they become inconvenient? Were they ever values at all? Just theatre? A one-way enforcement tool?

Maybe that’s why employees created this badass site to safely speak up.

So what now? What happens if your employer starts pulling this same bullshit?

I asked Growclass CEO Sarah Stockdale where to begin. She shared a few grounding realities to consider:

1. Know your rights
   
   Canadians should read up on their whistleblower and employment protections and always consult an employment lawyer.
   
   
2. Leadership has a responsibility to protect
   
   Senior leaders have power…and a duty to use it. They should speak publicly, organize internally, and help more junior employees line up work before exiting or speaking out.
   
   
3. Remember that staying doesn’t mean endorsing
   
   Let’s be honest, it’s not always as easy as just quitting your job during a brutal job market. Moral clarity doesn’t pay the bills. Needing to survive does not make you complicit in what your employer is doing.
   
   

When your employer chooses to maximize shareholder value over the company’s stated values, that’s a position—and employees (and the rest of us, hi) are allowed to judge it.

Values should mean something. They shouldn’t just be a tool to control employees.

Grow a spine, Hootsuite.

And one more time for the road: fuck ICE.

Talk soon,

Ines

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