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In Europe, the conversation about data centers has long gone beyond the technical discussion. Environmental organizations, human rights defenders in the digital sphere, and local initiative groups have joined forces in the Stop Dirty Data Centers campaign. Its participants demand to freeze the construction of large computing complexes. First, in their opinion, it is necessary to understand how such objects will affect nature and people's lives. Activists insist that the fate of such projects should be decided by residents, not just corporations and industry officials.

The British Global Action Plan reports that even before the start of the campaign, over 80 associations from 10 countries joined it. The support formats were different — rallies, public discussions, bike rides. The organizers wanted to convey a simple idea: data centers are not about abstract technologies, but about water, light, noise and the urban environment. Separately, Global Action Plan sought a moratorium in the UK. According to the logic of the organization, before expanding the infrastructure, the authorities should calculate the real need for capacity and estimate what the new facilities will bring to local residents. The representatives of Global Action Plan expressed the essence of their position as follows: it's time to honestly answer how many data centers are needed, why they are needed and where to install them.

The main complaints of the campaign participants are the growth of energy and water consumption, noise, deforestation of green areas and unnecessary load on urban networks. Activists especially highlight the struggle for connection to the electric grid: IT giants, apartment buildings, and other businesses are standing in line for the same resource. So the subject of the dispute is not only the servers, but also how to divide the limited resources between different consumers.

The geography of the protests is growing. A campaign of mass appeals to the authorities on the Digital Valley Asturias project has been launched in Spanish Asturias. The Italian local committee announced the collection of signatures for a nationwide moratorium. In Amsterdam, the protest against the Microsoft complex ended with a break-in and clashes with the police. In addition, Global Action Plan has released a map to help the British find data centers near their homes, and instructions on how to organize local pickets.

In the United States, restrictions on data centers are increasingly being implemented through local referendums. According to preliminary data from the Associated Press (AP) on November 6, such measures were approved in 44 votes out of 45, where the counting has already been completed. The formulations vary from a pause in construction to a ban on large facilities and mandatory coordination with residents. In Grove City, Ohio, voters voted for projects starting at 20 MW to be put to a public vote. A number of municipalities in the same state have also approved bans on data centers with a capacity of more than 25 MW, according to Data Center Dynamics. Moratoriums have been imposed for 180 days in several towns in Maine. And according to an AP Voter Poll, about three quarters of American voters don't want to see a new data center where they live.