Stop Dirty Data Centres protests against data centres in France, Digi Mart USA News: Initiatives are being launched at several locations in France on November 6 and 7 to make heard the voices opposing data centres. As data centre projects have multiplied for several months with the rise of artificial intelligence, initiatives have emerged to protest these buildings.
On November 6 and 7, actions will be held across Europe to say “stop polluting data centres.” In France, about a dozen events are already planned, notably in Paris, Grenoble and Marseille. Through these initiatives, Stop Dirty Data Centres aims to show citizens’ capacity to stop the uncontrolled expansion of data centres dedicated to AI and to prevent democracy from being held hostage by the interests of tech giants.
Among the initiatives listed for France are one by Data for Good in Paris titled “Data centers everywhere, democracy nowhere!” featuring a staged public debate on AI, one by the Stop Campus IA collective to inform the public about a planned data centre park on farmland in Seine-et-Marne, and a citizens’ march against a project for a data centre and an RTE electrical substation in Brebières Corbehem.
The collective, which brings together initiatives from other groups, argues there are several reasons to act against the expansion of data centres, including protecting local communities that may lose green spaces and tranquility, even though these centres contribute little to the local economy and do not create enough jobs for the people affected.
Stop Dirty Data Centres also points to the climate crisis, water shortages and the use of fossil fuels. The article notes that this may be true in countries such as the United States, but data centres are quite different in Europe and even more so in France, where they draw most of their energy from nuclear power, which is very low in carbon.
However, the article acknowledges that the manufacturing of the machines needed for data centres is polluting and requires many materials, such as critical minerals whose extraction also causes pollution.
