Slack Issues Data Deletion Threat to Nonprofit Coding Club Unless $50,000 Paid Within a Week
Hack Club Faces Demand for Payment from Slack
In a surprising turn of events, the nonprofit organisation Hack Club, which aims to run coding clubs at high schools, has received a demand for payment from Slack. The demand, sent within a week, requests $50,000, a significant increase from the $5,000 per year that Hack Club was previously paying.
Slack, a platform integral to Hack Club's offline community, is a place where members can find awesome people to code together and build a programming community. The demand for such a large sum within such a short timeframe has been deemed absurd by Hack Club.
If Hack Club does not agree to these demands, Slack has threatened to deactivate their Slack workspace and delete all message history. This would be a significant blow to the organisation, as the Slack workspace serves as a vital tool for communication and collaboration among the members.
The person responsible for the renegotiation offer from Salesforce, the company that owns Slack, has not been publicly disclosed. It is worth noting that Salesforce is a multibillion-dollar company, valued at $230 billion.
Despite the challenges, Hack Club remains committed to its mission of fostering a community of young coders. The organisation's home page states, "Slack is a place to find awesome people to hang out with, code together, and find a programming community." As negotiations continue, the future of this important community remains uncertain.
Stay tuned for updates as this story develops.
Update:
Following public outcry, Slack has announced that it will not deactivate Hack Club's Slack workspace and delete their message history. The company has also stated that it is willing to work with Hack Club to find a more reasonable solution.
Hack Club, for its part, has expressed gratitude for the support it has received and has pledged to continue its mission of providing a platform for young coders to connect and collaborate. The organisation has also called for greater transparency and fairness in the way that tech companies interact with nonprofits. This incident has highlighted the importance of these platforms in the lives of nonprofits and the need for a more equitable relationship between tech companies and the organisations they serve. As the story continues to unfold, it will be interesting to see how both parties move forward.
