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Activists break into building site of Microsoft datacentre in Amsterdam

Activists have stormed the site of a Microsoft datacentre being built in Amsterdam, as the backlash to the social and environmental harms of the AI boom spreads across Europe. Protesters from Geef Tegengas, a Dutch direct action group, clashed with police while breaking into a construction site at Westpoort, Amsterdam, where some members climbed a crane, lit flares and tied helium balloons to equipment. The action comes amid Europe-wide resistance to the rapid expansion of energy-hungry AI, with more than 100 gr…

Truvace record3 min read1 sourceEvidence: Emerging · 42/100 — News report · 1 independent sourceJournalismTRV-2026-2407 · cite or check it
Activists break into building site of Microsoft datacentre in Amsterdam

In brief

Activists from the Dutch direct action group Geef Tegengas broke into a Microsoft datacentre construction site at Westpoort, Amsterdam. Some climbed a crane, lit flares and tied helium balloons to equipment, and clashed with police. Police said force was used and one officer was slightly injured.

The break-in coincided with a two-day, Europe-wide series of protests involving more than 100 groups demanding moratoria on new datacentres. The pan-European Stop Dirty Data Centres campaign targeted the same site but its members stayed outside the fence, and it said it had not coordinated the break-in.

Campaigners say communities are shut out of planning decisions while governments back datacentres for tax revenue and to keep pace with the US and China. In the US midterm elections this week, nearly every datacentre moratorium on the ballot was approved. Microsoft and the site owner, Pure Data Centres, said they respect peaceful protest but called entering a live site unlawful and dangerous.

Main points

  1. Geef Tegengas protesters broke into the Westpoort construction site in Amsterdam, climbing a crane, lighting flares and tying helium balloons to equipment.
  2. Police said they tried to prevent the occupation and arrest protesters but could not, that force was used, and that an officer was slightly injured; protesters said police also used teargas.
  3. Organisers and local media reported hundreds of protesters on each side of the fence.
  4. Smaller protests took place in Bristol, at a datacentre in Berlin, outside the Polish parliament in Warsaw and in Zagreb's main square, with more expected on Saturday.
  5. Stop Dirty Data Centres, which includes national branches of Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth, said communities turning to a range of tactics when excluded from decisions was understandable.
  6. In the US midterm elections this week, nearly every proposed datacentre moratorium on the ballot was approved.
  7. A Guardian and Investigate Europe investigation last week found evidence of dangerous conditions for some of the workers building datacentres.

The problem

More than 100 groups protested AI datacentres across Europe, and campaigners said communities are being shut out of decisions on local environments, with one activist saying the Amsterdam site is taking drinking water.

The full story

At Westpoort, the Geef Tegengas protesters hung banners objecting to Microsoft's services to the Israeli military and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Activist Roos Molenaar said the group would not accept Amsterdam being used for what she called AI slop and the facilitation of genocide, and alleged the datacentre is gulping up drinking water.

The separate Stop Dirty Data Centres campaign, led by coordinator Owen Espley, said big tech and governments are racing ahead with large-scale development despite public concern about local communities, natural resources and other industries. It said many projects are planned with limited transparency or scrutiny.

Microsoft said its first concern was everyone's wellbeing and that it does not condone unlawful actions or ones that risk safety. Pure Data Centres, the site owner, asked those on site to leave safely and to engage in dialogue about the development.

The article places the protests in a wider backlash over energy bills, job losses and tech companies' role in democracy. European governments have backed AI datacentres to boost tax revenues and catch up with US and Chinese computing power, with some framing the AI race as national security.

Sources

  1. JournalismThe Guardian2026-11-06

The debate