On Friday, protesters entered a construction site for a new Microsoft data centre in Amsterdam. Some climbed a crane and lit flares, while others clashed with law enforcement. This event reflects the growing anti-data centre movement across Europe.
Nathan Timmer, a representative of the protest group Geef Tegengas, which translates to “Push Back,” told local broadcaster AT5 that the protesters’ objective is to halt construction at the site. In addition, campaigners across Europe are expected to organise protests and other actions in various countries over the weekend, advocating for a moratorium on large-scale data centre developments to address pressing social and environmental concerns associated with these energy-intensive facilities.
“We don’t want it to be built. Nobody needs it,” Timmer said. “The only thing this will be used for is AI slop. AI warfare, data surveillance and committing genocides. We don’t want that,” he added, vowing to continue protesting until construction is halted.
Pro-Palestinian activists demonstrated in the Dutch capital, with police escorting some activists off a construction site by late afternoon. Dutch authorities detained around 150 to 200 individuals suspected of trespassing. Microsoft acknowledged the protest, saying it respects the right to express views peacefully but does not condone unlawful actions that threaten safety.
The demonstrations followed the US midterm elections, which saw Democrats promise to regulate data centres, often criticised for their high resource consumption. Numerous civil society groups plan to join the “Stop Dirty Data Centres” events this weekend in 15 European countries, including Ireland, Poland, and the UK.
“There’s a gulf between where elected leaders are at in terms of buying into the hype about AI and where people are at,” said Owen Espley, coordinator of StopDirtyDataCentres.eu.
In Germany, a dozen protesters gathered in front of a data centre on the outskirts of Berlin on Friday.
“We want to put a stop to this blind construction of data centres around Germany, regardless of any environmental concerns,” said the protest spokeswoman Caro Weber. “This is really, really dangerous for our future.”
Around 100 people protested against data centres in front of the Polish Parliament on Friday, representing communities near Warsaw where new centres are planned. In Italy, opposition is growing in the Lombardy region, the country’s main digital infrastructure hub. Activists argue that the rapid expansion of cloud computing and AI facilities is outpacing public consultation and environmental oversight.
On 10 October, over 1,000 people gathered in Milan’s Piazza della Scala for Italy’s first national demonstration against data centres, calling for a moratorium on new projects and a national growth strategy. According to PwC’s Global Data Centre Outlook 2026–2050, Europe is projected to attract $5.6 trillion in capital expenditure on data centres from 2026 to 2050, while the US is expected to attract $15.1 trillion during the same period.
This article used information from The Associated Press.
