Overview
- The occupation of the Pure Data Centres construction site in Amsterdam’s Sloterdijk district occurred on Friday and forced work to stop as police moved in to clear the site.
- Dutch police said they detained roughly 150–200 people on suspicion of trespassing after activists climbed fences and a crane, displayed anti‑AI and pro‑Palestine banners, and set off flares.
- The action was organised locally by Geef Tegengas with support from Fossielvrij and formed part of a two‑day, cross‑Europe Stop Dirty Data Centres campaign calling for a moratorium on large projects.
- The development targeted is three roughly 85‑metre towers being built by Pure Data Centres, leased in full to Microsoft with about 78 MW of planned capacity, and it proceeded from approvals first submitted in 2016 despite a later Amsterdam ban on new centres.
- Campaigners say the buildout strains electricity, water and housing plans and could prompt tighter local rules, new infrastructure cost regimes, and wider political pressure that may slow or change future approvals.