The Hypocrisy of Opposing Building Data Centres for Environmental Reasons While Using Social Media!

You need to delete all the apps on your phone.

In the wonderfully tangled world wide web of modern life, where tweets and TikToks reign supreme, nothing is quite as amusing—yet perplexingly hypocritical—as people taking to social media to express their rage against the building of data centres. Yes, those energy-hungry facilities that keep our social media antics flowing like overpriced lattes at your local hipster café. You can almost hear the anguished cries of the eco-warriors, waving their banners while posting selfies, all the while unaware they’re tangled in contradictions thicker than last month’s eco-friendly beard oil.

In the digital age, the intersection of technology and environmentalism has sparked intense debate. One prominent issue involves the construction of data centres, which are essential for powering all online activity, including social media platforms. Critics often voice environmental concerns about data centres, citing their energy consumption and carbon footprint, and yes, they are correct. However, this position raises questions of hypocrisy, particularly for those who actively engage with social media and other digital platforms that rely on these very infrastructures.

Recently bestselling author Irish author Sally Rooney is among those who have lodged objections to the development of a proposed data centre at Killala in North Mayo.

In her submission, she urged the local authority to refuse planning permission for what she described as a “wasteful, unnecessary and environmentally toxic proposal. Rooney said, “In 2023, private corporate data centres accounted for 21% of Ireland’s total electricity usage – more than all urban households combined, residential electricity use actually fell between 2022 and 2023, as ordinary Irish people used less power, but overall electricity usage still grew – driven by data centres.”

She is absolutely correct in her observations. She also said, “Data centres wreak environmental destruction without providing much social, economic or cultural value at all”. You can read her submission here.

Sally Rooney is an acclaimed Irish author known for her novels, which often explore themes around relationships, identity, and modern life. Her book “Normal People” gained significant attention, both as a critically acclaimed novel and as a successful TV adaptation.

Data centres play a crucial role in the distribution and accessibility of digital content. They host the servers that store and deliver e-books, articles, and streaming media, making it possible for readers and viewers to access Rooney's brilliant work through platforms like Audible, Kindle, Amazon, RTE player and other streaming services. This reliance on data centres underscores the intersection of literature and technology in today's digital age. Is she asking us to stop using these services? Ireland is the European hub for almost every major tech company in the world, and data centres’ economic value is driven by these companies who employ hundreds of thousands of people directly and indirectly.

Should we stop using RTÉ Player to watch “Normal People,” stop ordering Sally Rooney's books from Amazon, or refrain from reading her works on Kindle or listening to her books on Audible? Rooney regularly writes for the Irish Times should I cancel my digital subscription and delete the app? All of these services rely heavily on data centres to operate. While ceasing to use these platforms wouldn’t diminish her cultural value, it would significantly impact the audience reach of her works.

Opponents of data centre construction typically argue that these facilities exacerbate climate change due to their high energy demands, often sourced from fossil fuels. They advocate for more sustainable practices and alternatives to the current model. This perspective is valid and important in advocating for environmental responsibility for more renewable energy sources.

However, it becomes contradictory when individuals who oppose data centres for these reasons continue to utilise social media platforms that would cease to function without these data centres. Every post, like, share, or video stream consumes energy processed in data centres. Every single app you use needs a data centre. These activities indirectly support the very systems they criticise. The Irish Times, Irish Independent, RTE and Virgin media players all need data centres. All your local media organisations that post to social media would cease to exist without data centres. Where will you get your news from that you don’t want to pay for anymore?

What would happen if we stopped building data centres? Online banking? Gone! Booking cheap Ryanair flights and hotel rooms on Booking.com, bye-bye. Your Air BNB would cease to exist. You can also say goodbye to your favourite podcasts. You bought an electric car to help save the environment, but it has a control panel the size of a 50-inch TV, how do you think the software on your car is operated and updated? It’s via the data centre you oppose. How do you think your food is ordered online? X, Facebook, Whatsapp, Linkedin and Snapchat, good luck with them functioning without data centres. Bye-bye, Amazon, the €10 dress you bought on Shein flown from China that was made by slave labourers, you’ll just have to go shopping in town again.

That GP referral letter sent to a specialist consultant that used to be posted by hand is now sent via email, speeding up sometimes necessary medical treatment. The speed of your diagnosis and treatment that might save your life, a scenario where time is of the essence, is now made possible by data centres. Ask any medical secretary or medical consultant about the potential damage that can be done to patients when a server or data centre goes offline. Your diagnosis may now be terminal because you were against building a data centre.

Climate change is real and is changing faster than your mother’s opinions about your poor life choices. Nevertheless, it’s hypocritical that while typing furiously about saving the planet, these digital activists have their smartphones glued to their hands. Every doom scroll, every double-tap and like, every little snarky comment about our TikTok Taoiseach involves data processing that takes place in those much-maligned centres. You’d have to talk to people face to face without these data centres. God forbid that should happen.

So the next time you're about to tweet or post a TikTok about the evils of data centres while listening to your favourite podcast, maybe think twice—because you just might be living in a glass house of your own making.