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Dear Citizens,

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Here’s what else to know, watch and do this week.

🏭 ONE READ: Miles of Pipes 🏭

Terrific long read this month in Mother Jones, on the “literal and metaphorical power grab by tech billionaires” fuelled by the AI boom, and the mass scale of tech-driven building. Tim Murphy writes:

But the thing about building a data center this big is you cannot simply build a data center—you must build a world to go with it. You need three new power plants and transmission lines to connect them to the grid. You need hundreds of millions of gallons of water and miles of pipes. You must pave roads and build new ones, clear fields, and build ponds. You need a port to bring in gravel and dirt from wherever you can get it. You need stoplights and sheriff’s deputies and laundromats. You need thousands of workers and places to house them—executive lodging, cheap motels, and man camps with movie theaters and gyms. Pecan groves will become RV lots; homes will become parking lots or a Dollar General or food truck parks.

👉 Read the whole piece here.

📚 Bonus read: From POLITICO EU, Estonian Education Minister Kristina Kallas says it’s time to blame big tech, not kids, for social media addiction.

🌎 ONE WATCH: Chasing the Data Brokers 🌎

We all know the apps on their phones collect detailed location data. What’s less known? How that information ends up with a shady global network of data brokers and advertising companies.

This terrific film from DW documentary goes deep, based on one of the largest investigations of its kind to date: a team of journalists analyzed around ten billion pieces of location data.

👉 Watch the whole documentary here.

✊ ONE ACTION: It’s Gonna Be May ✊

On the heels of No Kings and the fierce protests to get ICE out of Minneapolis, May Day Strong is coming to protest Donald Trump - and to demand affordable housing, education, an end to big tech dominance and more. From The Guardian:

The single-day protest on 1 May is taking its cue from the massive day of action that shut down Minneapolis. January by asking Americans not to shop, work or go to school. Rallies, marches and teach-ins will also take place across the country.

In the US and want to join?

👉 Sign up here.

👁️‍🗨️ BONUS ACTION: Purge Palantir 👁️‍🗨️

Good news: the pushback against Palantir is ramping up, especially after the company casually dropped their fascist manifesto on X this week.

👉 Join the Purge Palantir campaign, working with organisers across the US to put a spotlight on the company and its abuses.

For a behind-the-scenes look, read this interview with the organisers on how Palantir is propping up an authoritarian agenda - and what you can do about it.

In the UK? Remember the big resisting tech teach-in is tomorrow! Somewhere else? No problem. Keep the pressure on Palantir here.

That’s all for this week,
Team Citizens

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