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“Too fast, too big”: Protesters across Europe are fighting the data center boom
In London, Amsterdam, Vienna and other European cities, activists took to the streets to protest against data centers. The first Europe-wide campaign of this kind also took place in Berlin
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In London, Amsterdam, Vienna and other European cities, activists took to the streets to protest against data centers. The first Europe-wide action of this kind also attracted demonstrators in Berlin. Data centers are increasingly shaping political debates around the world.
In what the organizers say was the first protest against data centers and AI in Berlin, 15 to 20 activists gathered on Friday afternoon in front of two data center locations in Mariendorf. The area, which extends on the site of a former gas power plant, is fenced; Apart from security personnel and construction workers, there is no life to be seen there. The banner that the protesters are holding in front of a windowless building reads: "Data centers? No thanks!"
"We are just getting started here in Berlin. This is the beginning of a broader movement like we have seen in the USA," says Caro Weber from the Interventionist Left, spokeswoman for the protest.
On this cold November afternoon, the activists carry hand-written signs and strips of fabric. There is a police vehicle right next to them. The small group takes on a powerful industry. The activists protesting against the AI industry use tangible infrastructure, data centers, as a symbol of their struggle.
Today an open day was originally planned for the public to visit the data center. But the operator canceled the event for security reasons, Weber told netzpolitik.org. “We want to instill a little fear in these corporations that have enormous power,” she says.
“Like a black box”
“I didn’t even know there was a data center here!” commented a passer-by on the protest. The gated complex has no prominent signs.
Parts of the two locations are already in operation, while others are still under construction. Once completed, the site will house more than 100 megawatts (MW) of IT capacity, which is estimated to require as much electricity as tens of thousands of households.
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The sites are operated by NTT Data and Virtus, two foreign-based multinational corporations. Both are colocation providers: They rent space, electricity and cooling to customers who store their own servers there.
"These data centers are like a black box. We don't know what they are used for. Are they used to create deepfakes? Are they used to spread disinformation? Are they used for automated weapon systems? There is no democratic control over what data centers and AI can be used for, and that is exactly our concern," Weber told Netzpolitik.org.
“Such protests are definitely necessary to win more democratic voices to control and shape the computing infrastructure,” Fabian Halfer, an urban researcher who took part in the protest, told Netzpolitik.org. "During my research, it was difficult to find information about this energy-intensive infrastructure. You can only get information through extensive forensic research. It is quite unclear what the actual impact is," explains Halfer.
A first Europe-wide protest
““Your cloud is drying up my river”, “Not here, nowhere” and “Data centers everywhere, democracy nowhere!” are among the slogans of opposition groups in Spain, Ireland and France taking part in the days of action this weekend. The campaign is organized byhttps://stopdirtydatacentres.eu/">“Stop dirty data centers”, a pan-European coalition of around 100 groups from 15 countries.
Large data centers run around the clock. They consumehttps://netzpolitik.org/2026/greenpeace-studie-bau-von-riesen-rechenzent...Amounts of electricity and waterand are thus placing increasing strain on natural resources and public infrastructure. Activists say this often leaves local communities excluded from decisions that shape their environment and their future.
“Today, communities across Europe that are resisting the establishment of energy-, water- and land-intensive data centers near them are stepping onto the political stage,” said Owen Espley, coordinator of the Stop Dirty Data Centers coalition.
The coalition is calling for an immediate moratorium on new large-scale data center projects, i.e. a pause until social and environmental concerns are addressed. It also calls for clear rules about whether and under what conditions new facilities may be built, combined with appropriate review and meaningful public participation.
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The action days take place as the EU discusses a proposal from the European Commission to accelerate the approval of data centers.
Against the accelerated approval of hyperscalers
The proposed EU law on the development of cloud and AI technologies aims to accelerate the expansion of data centers across the bloc. The plan provides for the designation of zones in which the approval process cannot take longer than 12 months. Within these zones, the Commission wants data centers to be treated as “strategic projects” under a separate EU regulation that speeds up environmental assessments.
The NGOhttps://corporateeurope.org/en/2026/11/fast-tracking-big-tech-power">“Corporate Europe Observatory”counted 367 documented lobbying meetings on data center policy before the proposal was released.
"I have great concerns about this. The current bottleneck in data centers is the planning process in which local residents can participate and have influence. Classifying such projects as strategic and granting their approvals in a rush hinders this democratic process and makes it even more difficult than it already is," said Halfer.
In the US, strong opposition to data center expansion contributed to heavy losses for the Republican Party in the midterm elections, despite the tech industry spending hundreds of millions of dollars to support Republican campaigns. In July alone, the US movement against data centers organized around 140 protests in 42 states. Over the past two years, it has used moratoriums extensively to block data center projects worth hundreds of billions of dollars.
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