Martha Dark

Microsoft has ‘ripped off the NHS’, says MP amid call for contracts with British firms Samantha Niblett highlighted government’s multi-billion-pound deals with Microsoft and ‘getting locked in’

"MPs on the select committee said the UK needed to develop greater “sovereign” technology capacity, award more contracts to smaller, local providers, and be less reliant on deals that resulted in government departments becoming locked into services with US firms." www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

How Palantir infiltrated the state At a moment of national emergency, the government handed our data to Peter Thiel’s controversial company

"@labourlewis.bsky.social, who campaigned against Palantir’s work with the NHS, told me: “Its business is death and destruction. This is not an organisation you want running the democratic jewel of the postwar period.” www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/dem...

I'm in Kuala Lumpur this week at #GIJC2025 and the CTRL+J International meeting talking about Foxglove's work challenging AI overviews and Google's theft of news around the world. Let me know if you're in town and fancy a coffee.

International Criminal Court to ditch Microsoft Office for European open source alternative | Euractiv The court will move its internal work environment to Open Desk, a German-developed open source software

love this for you ICC

www.euractiv.com/news/interna...

Head of Operations - Remote job with Foxglove | 9893829 Lead operations remotely, driving finance, HR, compliance & growth in a mission-driven tech justice nonprofit.

jobs.theguardian.com/job/9893829/...

Recruitment for a head of ops position at @foxglovelegal.bsky.social closes in a week! Please share widely and apply if of interest.

@foxglovelegal.bsky.social supporters in action 👇 objecting to Google's NEW Thurrock data centre. 💪

Join them www.foxglove.org.uk/campaigns/th...

Google's data centre will emit half a million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, equivalent to 500 short-haul flights a week.

Head of Operations - Remote job with Foxglove | 9893829 Lead operations remotely, driving finance, HR, compliance & growth in a mission-driven tech justice nonprofit.

We are hiring a head of operations at Foxglove! All the details are below - please share with anyone brilliant / that might be interested.

jobs.theguardian.com/job/9893829/...

‘Signs of recovery’ claims Amazon Web Services after internet outage hits many websites and apps – business live Fortnite, Roblox, SnapChat, Lloyds Bank and Ring doorbells among services hit by online outage

Thank you for showing us exactly why our cloud infrastructure shouldn't be in the hands of just three companies today AWS.

www.theguardian.com/business/liv...

Government urged to scrutinise datacentre developers’ environmental claims | Computer Weekly A new report by environmental non-profit Foxglove suggests the government's pro-datacentre agenda could be set to derail the UK's decarbonisation efforts

Great write up of our report in Computer Weekly. We'll continue to urge gov to properly scrutinise data centre developers’ environmental claims. @foxglovelegal.bsky.social @globalactionplan.bsky.social

www.computerweekly.com/news/3666322...

(full report here www.foxglove.org.uk/wp-content/u...)

Report: 10 new data centres would wipe out annual carbon savings from electric cars - Foxglove Just ten of the new, large-scale data centres being built in the UK would lead to annual carbon emissions equivalent …

Read the report in full here

www.foxglove.org.uk/2025/10/05/r...

As @dncampbell.bsky.social says “If you pile in all this extra demand, is the grid really going to be decarbonised as far as we’d want it? Or will we be forced into what’s happening in the US, where they’re extending the life of coal and gas?”

Ten UK data centres could cancel EV emissions gain Research has underlined the lack of transparent and reliable figures for expected emissions driven by data centre growth

Our research out today and covered in the Observer 👇 shows emissions from just 10 of the hundreds of UK data centres in the works could wipe out carbon emissions saved by switching to electric cars in 2025! @globalactionplan.bsky.social @foxglovelegal.bsky.social

observer.co.uk/news/busines...

Stop the Government forcing through Destructive Data Centres Foxglove is a non-profit which exists to make technology fair for everyone. They are co-claimant in the case. Global Action Plan is an environmental charity which works to improve the health of peopl

www.crowdjustice.com/case/datacen...

We @foxglovelegal.bsky.social and @globalactionplan.bsky.social are just £500 away from our fundraising target. Please share and donate if you can to help us get there!

Foxglove's @marthadark.bsky.social was at the UK's Labour party conference this week to warn about the environmental costs of Big Tech's data centres:

Kicking off our second panel of the day #Lab25, in partnership with @globalactionplan.bsky.social, with a discussion about whether our energy and water systems are ready for the AI Data Centre Boom.

There is a real knowledge gap around the energy and water consumption of data centres, says Martha Dark from @foxglovelegal.bsky.social, and there need to be better mechanisms for holding developers to their commitments - how do we build this infrastructure without letting climate targets slip?

Feeding the Beast: Are Our Energy and Water Systems Ready for the AI data centre boom? · Luma This event is open to all Conference attendees. An RSVP is not required to gain access. This panel explores the energy and water demands of AI-driven data…

- @marthadark.bsky.social, Foxglove Legal
- @shanikamahendr1.bsky.social, Milton Keynes Councillor
- @sophiaadamsbhatti.bsky.social, AI Expert (Chair)

🔗 Event Page: luma.com/5v40y8tj

What do you do when your media org is captured? You start your own.

Introducing....The Nerve!!! @thenerve-news.bsky.social

We're all-female, journalist-owned & launching next week.

Please help us build a truly independent, progressive new media!👊👊👊

AI could boost UK economy by 10% in 5 years, says Microsoft boss Boss Satya Nadella said it was the biggest investment the firm had made outside of the US.

Microsoft CEO claimed "investing in data centres was 'effectively' also investing in modernising the power grid but did not say that money would be shared directly with the UK's power supplier"

In short: he will pile more demand onto the grid but won't pay for it.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

EU fines Google €2.95 billion - Euractiv The US tech giant was fined for violating EU competition rules in the advertising technology market

Oh. Wow. A fine of [*checks notes*] about 1% of Google's annual turnover as punishment for [*checks further notes*] monopolising critical infrastructure in ways that aggressively defunds democracy.

The EC's spinelessness is a revolution in materials science.
www.euractiv.com/section/tech...

EU slaps Google with €2.95B fine despite Trump trade threat Brussels hammers U.S. search giant after internal Commission feud.

Google's monopoly power rips off consumers, pollutes our information environment, and destroys the news media.

Today's €2.95 billion fine is a start, but won't touch Google's toxic ad-tech monopoly. The EU @ec.europa.eu must hold firm and now break up Google. www.politico.eu/article/eu-s...

Coventry council to use Palantir AI in social work, Send and children’s services Exclusive: Workers say £500k contract with US tech firm which supplies Israeli forces raises ‘serious ethical questions’

Palantir is the last company that should be allowed anywhere near children’s services.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

The Maybe

Listen to Oliver Hayes, our Head of Policy and Campaigns, and Martha Dark of @foxglovelegal.bsky.social talk on @themaybe.org podcast about the legal challenge we launched against the government’s decision to force construction of a data centre in Buckinghamshire.

www.themaybe.org/podcast/shor...

The Maybe

NEWS! Foxglove (@foxglovelegal.bsky.social) and Global Action Plan (@globalactionplan.bsky.social) are suing to stop the UK govt's YOLO plans for data centers.

Want a 15min brief on the case from @marthadark.bsky.social and @olliehayes.bsky.social?

Listen here: www.themaybe.org/podcast/shor...

PI rings the alarm bell and alerts ICO about the use of algorithms by the Home Office and their impact on migrants On the basis of a year of legal research by PI as well as documents obtained by other civil society organisations, and evidence provided by legal representatives fighting these automated systems on…

⚠️ We filed a complaint against the use of two algorithms in UK immigration enforcement operations.
privacyinternational.org/long-read/5639/pi-rings-alarm-bell-and-alerts-ico-about-use-algorithms-home-office-and-their-impact

Iver landfill data centre subject of legal action by campaigners Campaigners are raising concerns about the environmental impact of the facility.

"The deputy prime minister's lack of meaningful scrutiny of this application sends a worrying signal to communities across the country that more and bigger data centres are inevitable."
- Oliver Hayes, Global Action Plan, quoted in BBC coverage today.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Legal challenge over approval of data centre Non-profit Foxglove and Global Action Plan have launched a legal challenge over the construction of a data centre in the Buckinghamshire Green Belt.

A legal challenge has been launched against a decision to force through construction of a hyperscale data centre in the Buckinghamshire Green Belt.

Tech justice non-profit Foxglove and environmental charity Global Action Plan are represented by Rowan Smith.

www.leighday.co.uk/news/news/20...

Iver landfill data centre subject of legal action by campaigners Campaigners are raising concerns about the environmental impact of the facility.

As Rosa says re our data centre challenge "Local people and businesses in Buckinghamshire will soon be competing with a power guzzling-behemoth to keep the lights on, which as we've seen in the states, usually means sky-high prices."

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Angela Rayner hit with legal challenge over datacentre on green belt land Exclusive: Campaigners complain no environmental assessment made for 90MW Buckinghamshire facility

Together with Foxglove, we’re launching a legal challenge against the government’s decision to force construction of a hyperscale data centre in Buckinghamshire.

Read the coverage in today's Guardian: www.theguardian.com/environment/...

@theguardian.com

Stop the Government forcing through Destructive Data Centres Foxglove is a non-profit which exists to make technology fair for everyone. They are co-claimant in the case. Global Action Plan is an environmental charity which works to improve the health of peopl

If you think our environment and our energy and water supplies are more important than the demands of Tech Billionaires, you can support our work to stop the UK Government forcing through environmentally destructive data centres here: www.crowdjustice.com/case/datacen...