'LFG!' Having walked away from contract in 2020 after staff objections, Vancouver-based company now supplying social media monitoring tools to DHS
Vancouver-based Hootsuite is supplying social media tools to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), according to media reports.
This development came several years after cancelling a separate deal with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) following internal opposition from employees.
Hootsuite walked away from a three-year contract with ICE in 2020 after staff objected, with then-CEO Tom Keiser stating at the time that the agreement had “divided the company.”
Social media is playing an expanded role in U.S. government screening of non-citizens, and ICE has apparently sought contractors to scan online platforms and identify people for deportation.
Contract links Hootsuite to DHS, CBP
The US$2-million agreement with Seneca Strategic Partners relies on the Canadian firm to provide its technology and support. Running from its July 2024 approval through to 2029, the arrangement is in place as the largest agency within the Department of Homeland Security pursues a hardline campaign on immigration enforcement, according to Business in Vancouver (BIV).
U.S. government records show that DHS has pledged US$1.1 million under the agreement and has so far disbursed more than $454,000 of that sum, with the contract’s total value potentially reaching close to $2.8 million by 2029.
“Hootsuite does not comment on current, former, or potential customer, prospect, or partner relationships,” a company spokesperson told BIV in an email.
The DHS said in its privacy policy that it will only use Hootsuite to manage DHS social media accounts listed on the DHS Social Media Directory “to improve the delivery of information and services to the general public, while promoting transparency and accountability, as a service for those seeking information about, or services from, the department.”
Employee concerns and past backlash
Inside Hootsuite, awareness of the ICE pilot spread through internal emails, but some staff members did not feel safe raising concerns openly because they feared losing their jobs, according to two anonymous sources cited by the Globe & Mail.
Their reluctance was linked to events in 2020, when an employee posted online about Hootsuite’s planned ICE contract, triggering media coverage and a petition calling for the deal to be cancelled.
Within days, Keiser announced that Hootsuite would not move ahead with the ICE agreement: “The decision has created a divided company, and this is not the kind of company I came to lead,” he said, according to media reports.
In 2019, Google employees called on the company to pledge it won't work with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection or Immigration and Customs Enforcement agencies. A group of employees posted a petition publicly urging the company not to bid on a cloud computing contract for CBP
Sales employee welcomes ICE deal
Internal materials at Hootsuite describe plans to monitor online conversations and sentiment about ICE and CBP, including references to immigration enforcement operations in specific cities, says the Globe & Mail.
One internal email from a sales employee in September 2025 referred to the ICE opportunity as a “Trojan Horse Deal” that could grow into a seven-figure agreement. The same message described plans to travel to Washington with “Irina” to “brief ICE on how Hootsuite and Talkwalker can support their mission,” in reference to Hootsuite CEO Irina Novoselsky who became CEO in January 2023 and is based in New York.
Talkwalker, which Hootsuite acquired in 2024, scans platforms such as Facebook, X and YouTube, along with websites, podcasts and forums, and analyzes posts for sentiment and emotional tone as part of what the company calls “social listening.”
‘LFG’: Internal emails highlight sales push
Internal communications show Hootsuite sales staff have portrayed the DHS relationship as strategically important, according to the Globe & Mail.
In one internal note, sales representative Bill Cynecki described closing social listening business with CBP and the ICE pilot as the culmination of a multiyear effort, writing, “I’ve been chasing this for over three years.”
In the same internal email, he stated, “It’s always an honor to work on anything tied to America’s national security. This is the greatest country on earth – and this deal has the potential to grow into Hootsuite’s biggest accounts … LFG!!!” according to the Globe & Mail, which reached out to Cynecki who then referred questions to Hootsuite’s media contact.
