Hootsuite is caught between a rock and a hard place.
The Vancouver-born social media management firm appeared to be on an unstoppable rise in the 2010s before competition, social media shifts, and the emergence of AI tools altered the market forever.
Today’s Hootsuite, arguably a shadow of its former self, probably can’t afford to drop customers worth $3 million.
But they also cannot afford to indefinitely absorb the kind of public backlash they’ve been facing recently.
Hootsuite has been under fire from leftist protestors in Canada such as the group Democracy Rising for counting the currently controversial United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement as a client.
Democracy Rising rallied their troops outside of the company’s Vancouver office on Friday in a demonstration of opposition.
Chief executive officer Irina Novoselsky issued a statement in response to the criticisms.
“We’ve worked with government organizations across countries and administrations for more than 15 years, including the U.S. government,” the CEO remarked. “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.”
Novoselsky affirmed that their work with ICE “does not include tracking or surveillance of individuals using our tools.”
“We understand this is a complex issue and that people will hold strong opinions,” she continued. “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.”
However, the memo did little to settle the nerves of protestors, who noted that Hootsuite intends to continue working with ICE despite hollers from the mob.
Hootsuite was founded in 2008.
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