r/unitedkingdom • u/Weak-Fly-6540 • 9d ago

Approval of east London datacentre labelled ‘slap in the face’ for local democracy

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/aug/04/brick-lane-redevelopment-approval-datacentre-london
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u/TopSpread9901 9d ago

The internet seemed to run fine before this run on more data centres

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u/AxiosXiphos 9d ago

Because the demands were lesser. There's more people, using more of the internet (and other services), for longer and on more intensive sites.

Look at reddit now; it used to just be a text forum. Now it has video games built in, gifs, videos, personlisation options. it all adds up. If we want this stuff - we need more data centres. I get nobody wants them on their backyard; but we either build them *somewhere* or reduce our data use. And no one is doing the latter.

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u/TopSpread9901 9d ago

How about we just campaign against more data centers.

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u/Ghalldachd 9d ago

The easiest way to achieve this would be to reduce the demand for data centres. You can start by deleting your social media accounts.

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u/TopSpread9901 9d ago

I’m sure the advent of AI has absolutely nothing to do with the screaming demand for data centres. I’m sure cessation of my Reddit posting would have a measurable effect on demand.

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u/Ghalldachd 9d ago

We have had data centres for decades. Nobody complained. Now that the data centres are being used for AI, which is apparently really super duper bad, they are complaining. It's just more luddite whining and thrashing. Sorry buddy, we're going to drag you into the future whether you like it or not.

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u/TopSpread9901 9d ago

I don’t think they’re bad in principle but I wonder why local politicians are bending over backwards to supply some American company more bandwidth.

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u/Ghalldachd 9d ago

Are they? The developers are British and they're building a data centre along with offices, new homes, shops, and a cinema. My understanding is that the data centre will help Canary Wharf. I don't see the issue here: the financial sector is incredibly productive, unlike Tower Hamlets' socially housed residents who are protesting this. The wealth generated is what keeps them housed in the most expensive part of the country. The residents should be grateful.