Amid a broader tech industry trend highlighted by recent decisions at companies like CrowdStrike, Box, and Duolingo, Shopify's leadership has directed its employees to adopt AI tools across various departments. This move raises concerns from a labor perspective, as rapid AI integration may lead to worker deskilling, increased surveillance, and potential exploitation without adequate safeguards.

The OpenSecrets profile on Shopify revealed that in the 2024 cycle, the company contributed $114,681 to political campaigns and spent $910,000 on lobbying efforts. This data, sourced from official releases by the FEC and Senate Office of Public Records, indicates Shopify’s engagement in political financing.

A newly filed Lobbying Disclosure Act report revealed that Shopify spent $240,000 on lobbying during Q4 2024. The issues addressed included corporate tax reform for small businesses, enhancement of digital economy initiatives, consumer privacy, and measures to increase competition in credit card routing, suggesting a focus on supporting independent and marginalized business interests.

Shopify’s Acceptable Use Policy, which previously banned hateful content such as Holocaust denial merchandise, was modified in July 2024 to remove the hateful content clause. This change has raised concerns that the platform may now inadvertently enable extremist and hate speech content.

Shopify hosted a Business of Fashion summit session focusing on labor rights in the global fashion supply chain. The event addressed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on garment workers and advocated for improved working conditions and regulatory reforms, highlighting issues such as unsafe working conditions, low wages, and gender-based abuses.

Shopify is significantly expanding its government affairs team in both the U.S. and Europe by recruiting experienced lobbyists from major tech firms, a move aimed at influencing regulatory policies on digital markets and platform regulation. The initiative includes hiring former officials from companies such as Google, Twitter, and Facebook, as well as engaging lobbying firms in Washington and Brussels.

A $130M class-action lawsuit has been filed against Shopify after allegations that, following a 20% workforce reduction, the company breached severance agreements by offering reduced compensation to its outgoing employees.

A class-action lawsuit has been initiated by Samfiru Tumarkin LLP against Shopify, alleging that the company unlawfully reduced severance packages for employees following a nationwide mass layoff that saw 23% of the workforce terminated. The lawsuit claims Shopify reneged on previously agreed severance terms, leaving thousands of affected workers with significantly lower compensation.

A class-action lawsuit alleges that Shopify misled laid off employees by revising severance packages from initially promised amounts to significantly lower sums, raising concerns over fair labor practices amid large-scale layoffs.

Shopify has chosen not to remove the Libs of TikTok store from its platform despite the store selling merchandise with hateful slogans that violate its own acceptable use policy. This decision has raised concerns about the company’s commitment to enforcing policies against hate speech and its role in potentially normalizing extremist rhetoric.

Shopify has banned Gab, an extremist-friendly 'free-speech' social network linked to anti-Semitic content and used by the suspect in the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, marking a significant move against extremist platforms on its service.