Letter From Irina

CEO Of Hootsuite

Hello Darlings! Some of you may have read the letter that was posted on the official Hoostsuite website. It was nice, but my PR team edited to make me seem more ‘relatable’ as they say. More human.

But that’s not who I am! I’m an absolute ghoul and proud of it. Below is the letter that you all know I really wanted to write. My true, honest self.

What we are watching unfold right now is wrong. But it feels so good!

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

Beyond how painful truly joyful 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. Even though acting like a human disgusts me. I’m basically an insect that feeds on dead flesh.

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.

I couldn’t have been more excited than when we won the contract with ICE. Ever since I was an immigrant from Ukraine I dreamed of creating a world that crushed the hopes and dreams of other immigrants. Seeing children in cages and hearing how widespread sexual abuse is in ICE detention centres makes the black heart within me pulse.

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, making blood money for our investors and our founder, Ryan Holmes.

We are also using some of the profit we make from oppressing minorities to construct a temple deep in a shadowy valley. It will serve as a place to make offers to a pantheon of gods so ancient and evil that even just hearing their names will drive you to commit acts of unspeakable horror on the people you love the most.

to the clear standards that govern how our technology is used, and to ensuring public conversation can be understood responsibly and at scale.=

Irina

PS: Don’t forget to check out our updated Hootsuite Values