Big Tech | Europe-wide resistance to data centers

Geef Tegengas activists are stopped by police while on their way to occupy a Microsoft data center under construction. Photo: Storm Groenendijk/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa At the construction site of a Microsoft data center in Amsterdam, blue and red pyrone mist drifts through the air. Four activists are sitting on a crane. “Down with all data centers” and “Fuck AI” can be read on a banner that the activists attached to the crane.

Around 300 activists went to the construction site of a Microsoft data center in Amsterdam on Friday to protest against the construction. Police in the Dutch capital said 150 to 200 demonstrators were arrested for trespassing. Some materials were allegedly stolen from the construction site, while others are said to have caused property damage there. All those arrested should be questioned, the police said.

The activists report on social media about “brutal police violence”: they were beaten and sprayed with pepper spray. Videos from the broadcaster NOS even show how the police used batons against demonstrators.

“Why is this data center being built?” asks an activist from the Geef Tegengas group in a video on social media recorded in front of the data center. The data center only serves the “Big Tech fascists” to make even more money. It also destroys the climate and aids in genocide.

According to NOS, demonstrators from two groups had gathered at the construction site. While the climate protection and citizens' movement Fossielvrij NL wanted to demonstrate in front of the construction site because data centers consume enormous amounts of energy, activists from the Geef Tegengas group tried to break open fences with tools in order to get to the construction site itself. The group takes action against fossil fuels, capitalism, rearmament or large tech projects by blocking infrastructure, ports or construction sites.

According to the police, they first asked the demonstrators to hand over their tools and then gave them the way to the rally site. Nevertheless, the demonstrators then forced their way into the construction site.

Microsoft told NOS that it was aware of the protests. »We understand that this project stirs up a lot of emotions and respect people's right to express their opinions peacefully. However, we do not condone actions that violate the law or endanger people's safety," the company said.

The action in the Dutch capital was just one of many actions against data centers. The international initiative “Stop Dirty Data Centers” called for Europe-wide protests on November 6th and 7th. Over 100 organizations joined the call.

The initiative calls for a moratorium on the construction of large data centers until social and environmental concerns are resolved. The break is intended to create space for a public debate about what digital infrastructure society actually needs, where it should be built and, above all, under what ecological conditions.

In Berlin, around twenty activists demonstrated on Friday in front of a data center in the Tempelhof-Schöneberg district. A conference entitled “Networking resistance against data centers” took place on Saturday. The organizers were the Green League, a network of ecological movements, and the Nodes of Resistance event series, which follows the Cables of Resistance conference.

The protests come at a time when the EU wants to massively expand its digital infrastructure. With the AI ​​Continent Action Plan from April 2025, the EU Commission wants to at least triple the Union's data center capacity within five to seven years. With dpa

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