Vancouver-based social media management tool Hootsuite is standing by its contract with U.S. federal agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), despite employee disagreement.
Last week, the Globe and Mail detailed Hootsuite’s contracts with ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), both of which fall under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Hootsuite, a social media management platform, reportedly secured a US$95,000 pilot project with ICE in September 2025 after working with CBP. Internal communications suggest the ICE deal could turn into a seven-figure contract. The Globe reported that Hootsuite discussed using its social listening technology to monitor conversations and sentiment toward ICE on social media, including discussions about ICE enforcement actions in specific cities.
Following the initial report, Hootsuite held an internal, all-hands call about the ICE contract. Per another Globe report, Hootsuite CEO Irina Novoselsky told employees Hootsuite would stand by the deal as long as ICE abides by its terms of service. Moreover, Novoselsky reportedly called recent media coverage “fake news.”
Notably, Hootsuite’s enterprise terms of service prohibit use “for law enforcement, surveillance, tracking.” In October, Wired reported that ICE wanted to build out a 24/7 social media surveillance team with the intent to scan social media to find people to deport.
Hootsuite officials reportedly said during the internal call that the company’s technology can’t track the locations of individuals, instead offering only high-level geographic information. However, the Globe reported that a Hootsuite employee said in an October call with CBP that the company could offer street-level geolocation data.
One employee close to the ICE deal posted a Slack message claiming the agency wants to use social listening to “better understand how they’re perceived” by audiences that may distrust them.
In the internal call, Novoselsky reportedly encouraged employees not to publicly discuss the ICE deal because doing so “won’t change the narrative.” Hootsuite and Novoselsky did not respond to the Globe’s requests for comment.
The details about Hootsuite’s deal with ICE come as the agency’s officers have killed a second person amid a weeks-long invasion of Minneapolis, Minnesota. On Saturday morning, ICE agents shot and killed Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse with no criminal record. It follows the shooting of Renee Good, a mother of three, on Jan. 7.
The Globe reports that Hootsuite employees have raised concerns internally, but senior leaders haven’t discussed the deal in an open forum. Some asked questions about the deal during the internal call, but employees told the Globe that the call’s focus was mostly on responding to customer and media inquiries.
This isn’t Hootsuite’s first brush with ICE. In 2020, an employee publicly revealed that Hootsuite had a contract with ICE, prompting media coverage and a petition demanding that Hootsuite cancel the deal. Hootsuite ultimately cancelled the contract.
Hootsuite isn’t the only Canadian company working with ICE. Last year, the agency ordered 20 armoured vehicles from a Brampton, Ont.-based firm called Roshel.
Header image credit: Shutterstock
Source: The Globe and Mail, (2)
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