Activists break into Microsoft Amsterdam datacentre site
The gist
More than 100 activists broke into a Microsoft data center site in Amsterdam; police detained 150-200.
The protest was part of a 16-country push to pause large data center builds.
How it unfolded
- Aug 10, 2025Activists in the Netherlands protested on the roof of a Microsoft site storing Israeli military data, after a revelation that the firm's servers held a large collection of intercepted Palestinian phone calls.
- Jul 16, 2026The Dutch arm of Extinction Rebellion claimed responsibility for throwing balloons filled with a chemical mixture at the under-construction Amsterdam datacenter, saying it was designed to degrade concrete and corrode steel reinforcement.
- Jul 17, 2026Pure DC said balloons were thrown over its perimeter fence and that it had not yet tested the substances; police were investigating and there was no damage.
Key terms
- data center
- Facilities housing computer systems and related equipment for storing, managing, and distributing digital information.
- MW
- A unit of power equal to one million watts, used to measure the rate of energy transfer.
- Extinction Rebellion
- A UK-founded global environmental movement that uses nonviolent civil disobedience to pressure governments into action on climate and ecological crises.
Source: Wikipedia