Letter from Irina,

What we are watching unfold right now is wrong.

The loss of life and the fear being felt in communities as a result of recent enforcement actions are devastating. 

Beyond how painful it has been to process the current situation on a personal level, we have also felt the concern expressed about Hootsuite’s work with ICE’s public affairs office. I want to share how I think about this candidly, human to human.

We’ve worked with government organizations across countries and administrations for more than 15 years, including the U.S. government. Our use-case with ICE does not include tracking or surveillance of individuals using our tools. Any claim otherwise is false and prohibited under our terms of service, which we actively enforce.

Our technology makes public conversation visible at scale. It helps organizations understand what people are saying using unbiased, authentic social data - this helps them understand how people are feeling, and where trust is being earned or lost. Today more than ever, organizations need to hear more from the public, not less. Our responsibility is to ensure those voices remain visible. We work with a wide range of organizations because listening to real conversations leads to insights that drive better decisions and accountability, without endorsing specific actions or policies.

We understand this is a complex issue and that people will hold strong opinions. Our responsibility is to our customers, to the clear standards that govern how our technology is used, and to ensuring public conversation can be understood responsibly and at scale.

Irina