Slogans were screamed over loudspeakers outside of Hootsuite’s headquarters on Friday as a protest enveloped the Vancouver tech company’s office, calling for it to cancel a contract to provide social media services to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and, through them, ICE.
“I was absolutely ashamed when I heard about the contract that Hootsuite had with ICE,” said Michael Tan, a former Hootsuite employee.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO 1130 NEWSRADIO VANCOUVER LIVE!Tan was one of Hootsuite’s first employees. He credits his career to that experience, but since he moved on in 2015, he says decisions like the $2.8 million contract they have entered into with DHS have left the company unrecognizable.
“When we started this company, where we grew this company to what it is, it’s that there were certain values, Canadian values, that were just so important to us,” Tan said.
“We became a big deal when it was used as a tool for journalists and citizens to organize in the Middle East, and it blew up overnight because of that. So Hootsuite became a success by enabling democracy.”
After a number of civilian deaths at the hands of ICE agents, most publicly those of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, those calling for Hootsuite to cancel its contract say working with the U.S. federal agency in any capacity is immoral.
“Even if they’re only rehabilitating the image of ICE, I think that Canadians disagree with that,” said one protester.
“ICE is even killing people, and yet they’re doing business with them,” said another protester.
For its part, Hootsuite says its contract with the DHS does not include tracking or surveillance of individuals, but that’s little comfort to those critical of ICE.
“As we watch the violence unfold, as we watch their attack on humanity unfold, do we want to be a part of it in any way, shape or form?” said Jenny Kwan, MP for Vancouver East.
Kwan adds that she supports a Hootsuite boycott.
“Canadians are expressing that point of view, and we consider their approach.”
Pattison Group stopped busines deal with DHS
At a different event later in the day, in front of the Pattison Group’s headquarters, plans shifted from protest to party.
After the well-known B.C. brand faced pressure and terminated a deal that would have sold a Virginia warehouse to the DHS for use as an ICE processing facility.
“Safe to say that this would not have happened without public pressure,” argued Emily Lowan, Leader of the Green Party of B.C.
The Pattison Group said it had no idea who the potential buyer was when it agreed to the sale, which Lowen explains only begs more questions.
“We need to see that full disclosure, full transparency, and an explanation of why they chose to stop the sale,” she said.
The fact that the sale has stopped gives protesters hope that Hootsuite could follow suit.