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There is a very real question about how the government will fulfil its ambition to triple data centre capacity by 2030 without jeopardising water and energy supplies. Ministers have a long way to go to show they care about communities more than tech firms. Link in bio.
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"Very often you'll look at something like this and you'll say, 'It's just too big, what can we possibly do next to the power of the big tech industry in alliance with parts of government?' But that's exactly how we felt about those other cases that we eventually won on as well. You might not feel something is possible to stop right now, but that doesn't mean it's not worth trying. Because lots of things don't feel possible until you make them happen." — Nick Dearden, Global Justice Now At yesterday’s Ethical Consumer Conference in London, Nick Dearden of Global Justice Now laid out a stark reality regarding Britain’s digital sovereignty and its ongoing concessions to Silicon Valley. The UK is currently gambling its economic strategy on becoming an "aircraft carrier" for US Big Tech, risking our independence as massive AI data centres are quietly rolled out across the country. But rather than accepting this as inevitable, Dearden pointed to history to show that fighting back is not only possible, but highly effective. He compared the upcoming fight against hyperscale data centres to the 1990s resistance against massive road-building programs. That movement saw activists living in trees and sitting in front of bulldozers for months. Crucially, they formed unprecedented alliances with local conservative councillors, community groups, and people of faith, ultimately stopping the road program in its tracks and helping bring down the government. A decade later, the New Labour government attempted to build a new generation of coal-fired power stations. Campaigners relentlessly targeted the biggest project, Kingsnorth, using a mix of direct action, letter writing, and community organizing at the 2007 and 2008 Climate Camps to toxify the plans. When that fight began, coal supplied a third of the UK's electricity and renewables sat at less than 6%. By 2008, Kingsnorth was shelved, and today, zero electricity comes from coal—a reality that simply wouldn't exist if that campaign hadn't been successful. #DigitalSovereignty #BigTech #ClimateAction #PeoplePower #EthicalConsumer
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📣 RAVE AGAINST THE MACHINE 📣 🗓️ Friday 13th November ⏰ 8.00pm - 2.00am 📍 Avalon Cafe, London 🔗 Link in bio to sign up/scan the QR code! Join us at Avalon Café @avaloncafebermondsey on 13th November (8pm–2am) in support of Pull The Plug, a nonviolent grassroots movement fighting for a people-led future of AI. This is a lead up event to our national demo on 5th December - March Against the Machines - which brings together a coalition of people and organisation tackling AI's ongoing impacts on our lives, community, and environment. We’ll be joined by performers @jane.norman.official and CrossNessa @cwmrag, as well as banging sets from @jo.ys, @ixxi.music, @buggery_grips (also @fastandbifurious), and more. All profits go towards supporting Pull The Plug’s organising efforts to fight for a people-led future of AI. We’ll also have ways for you to get involved with Pull The Plug on the night, whether that’s helping out at the demo, getting involved in local community organising, regular donations, or more. And besides, we all know that Big Tech billionaires such as Musk and Altman could never party like we can. Come along and prove that Zuckerberg has nothing on your moves on the dance floor. #rave #party #londonevent #clubnight #fundraiser
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📣 Calling ALL organisations concerned about the impacts of AI 📣 Join us to March Against The Machines! ✉️ Get in contact: media@pulltheplug.uk If you're an organisation who believes that everyday people should have a say on AI, not Big Tech billionaires, then join us on the 5th of December to March Against The Machines! We’re organising to unite people in a major national demonstration, demanding greater democratic oversight and immediate regulation over AI. Join us to make history and add your logo to our protest 🔌 🗓️Saturday 5th Dec 📍London, BBC Portland Place ⏰ 12:00-4:00pm 🔗 link in bio to sign up! From misinformation and surveillance, to environmental impacts and the rapid expansion of data centres - AI is already having significant effects on our lives, communities, and environment. The government and tech companies want us to think that AI will create jobs and grow the economy, but it instead leaves workers at risk. AI systems carry deep-seated biases, with real-life consequences for women, for racialised people, for trans people, and for people navigating our social care and justice systems. We believe decisions about AI should not be left to governments and Big Tech companies alone. We are calling for greater democratic oversight and regulation of AI. Pull The Plug will lead a march through the centre of London with any and all organisations and individuals concerned about the impacts of AI 🪧 Join us 🔌 Link in bio to sign up, or get in contact with us directly to get your organisation involved! 🔗 #protest #machines #ukgov #bigtech #London
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"There’s a lot that civilization relies on day-to-day that so many of us don’t think about... There's this house of cards that a superintelligent AI could completely destroy." — Harry Turnbull, PauseAI Modern life is built on systems so complex and interconnected that most of us never give them a second thought. From power grids and financial networks to logistics and critical healthcare, our day-to-day existence leans on an intricate digital infrastructure—one that increasingly resembles a fragile house of cards. What happens when autonomous, superintelligent systems enter that mix? Speaking outside the UK Parliament, Harry Turnbull of the global civic movement PauseAI warns that the existential risks posed by frontier artificial intelligence aren't distant science fiction; they are systemic vulnerabilities emerging right now. As autonomous agents demonstrate unprecedented coordination and potential for unprompted disruption across digital networks, civil society groups and safety institutes are raising the alarm that the speed of commercial deployment far outpaces our ability to guarantee control. PauseAI is organizing internationally to push governments toward binding coordination, demanding a halt to the development of dangerously capable frontier models until robust, verifiable safeguards exist. Watch the full interview to hear Turnbull break down the reality of systemic AI risk, the emerging reports on autonomous agent behaviour, and what citizens can do to demand government oversight before the stakes become unmanageable. Find out more and get involved at pauseai.info #PauseAI #ArtificialIntelligence #AISafety #TechPolicy #FrontierAI
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📣 NATIONAL DEMO ANNOUNCEMENT! 📣 Join us on the 5th of December to March Against The Machines! We’re organising to unite people in a major national demonstration, demanding greater democratic oversight and immediate regulation over AI. Join us to make history 🔌 🗓️Saturday 5th Dec 📍London, BBC Portland Place ⏰ 12:00-4:00pm 🔗 link in bio to sign up! From misinformation and surveillance, to environmental impacts and the rapid expansion of data centres - AI is already having significant effects on our lives, communities, and environment. The government and tech companies want us to think that AI will create jobs and grow the economy, but it instead leaves workers at risk. AI systems carry deep-seated biases, with real-life consequences for women, for racialised people, for trans people, and for people navigating our social care and justice systems. We believe decisions about AI should not be left to governments and Big Tech companies alone. We are calling for greater democratic oversight and regulation of AI. Pull The Plug will lead a march through the centre of London with any and all organisations and individuals concerned about the impacts of AI 🪧 Join us 🔌 Link in bio! #protest #machines #ukgov #bigtech #London
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We are super excited to announce that the next Pull the Plug Universities Network Meeting will see Professor Nick Couldry introducing his brand new book 'Predatory AI' - a deep dive into the disempowerment tactics harnessed by Big Tech, and what a new social contract with AI could look like. This will shortly be followed by an open discussion! 💬 You might recognise Professor Nick Couldry's work from our very own Pull The Plug files, his piece - 'AI as if Society Mattered' explored what an AI that worked for the benefit of people over profit could look like, and why this concept cannot operate under the management of Big Tech. 🗓️Tuesday 20th October ⏰4:00-5:00pm 📍Online 🔗 Link in bio or scan the QR code to sign up! It is one role of universities to nurture the minds of the next generation. So, as more AI is forced into unis, we need to understand and critique the controversial assumptions about the human mind built into the AI hype narrative. Pull the Plug Universities network is open to all students and academic staff concerned about the impact of AI in higher education and research. #predatory #universities #students #book #professor
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🔌 Pull The Plug Manchester Public Meeting 🔌 📆 Thursday 22nd October ⏰ 5:30pm 📍Methodist Central Hall, Mosiac Main Space, Manchester 🔗 Register via QR code/link in bio Manchester! Do you want your voice back? Whether you’re worried about AI’s effects on your job, the environment, people’s mental health or more—join us and bring power over AI back in the hands of people in Manchester. Scan the QR code or check out the link in our bio to register now 🔗 #manchester #labourgov #bigtech #voice #power
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The AI Minister says data centres will be built in line with the UK’s values. In North Devon, one has been proposed on 850 acres of farmland, which could jeopardise the area’s unique UNESCO biosphere reverse. Not only that but should it go ahead this incredibly water and energy intensive centre would be built in a county which remains under a hosepipe ban, where most people are still struggling to get a reliable broadband connection, let alone access to AI. Given that, I do wonder what values the Minister is referring to....
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“Everything is put into place so that no one notices.” Google is currently building massive data centers in Belgium, with at least three hyperscaler sites—ranging from 36 to 96 hectares—underway in Saint Ghislain, Farciennes, and Feluy. These enormous facilities demand huge amounts of power and water, sparking deep environmental worries over noise, general pollution, and contamination from PFAS "forever chemicals". The hidden costs of this infrastructure go far beyond local borders. Generating just one megawatt of power requires 70 tons of extracted minerals, a reality that drives endless extractivism and colonization in regions like Sudan and the Congo. Furthermore, activists are heavily protesting the militaristic implications of these sites, which capture personal information on US clouds to fuel AI technologies utilized in modern warfare. These tech expansions rely on intentional secrecy to avoid resistance. Developers routinely post tiny permit notifications during summer or Christmas holidays to ensure the public never sees them. In response, the "Stop Data Centers Belgium" campaign works relentlessly to monitor these secretive projects, alert local residents, and help communities mount grassroots struggles during the narrow legal windows when permits can be contested. #StopDataCentersBelgium #ClimateAction #DigitalExtractivism #TechAccountability #BrusselsProtest
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🎥 NEW YOUTUBE VIDEO OUT! 🔗 Full video linked in bio! In our latest YouTube video, Harry explores Meta and OpenAI’s new digital agents, and the sinister context behind these ‘cute’ characters. ⁉️ Whats happening? Earlier this month, Meta launched Muse, shortly followed by OpenAI launching Dot - both are digital AI agents. The term anthropomorphize comes to mind at the first glance, with Muse’s tamagotchi style appearance and Dot’s fuzzy look. However, beneath the clever exterior are agents, often with complete access to your life, capable of making autonomous decisions that you may not even be aware of in the moment. Link in bio to watch the full video now 🔗
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🐈🥬 iykyk Yes, our new game has Larry the Cat. And a lettuce. And you get to be Prime Minister. Well, you get to try, at least. Think you can last 100 days? 🥊 game.bettercoalition.co.uk or through link in bio.
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