Vote for the best of the internet I just voted in The Webby People's Voice Awards and checked my voter registration.

My all time favourite tech politics podcast Computer Says Maybe with amazing @alixdunn.com is up for a Webby! Vote for them here:

vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoting...

MP rejects Palantir’s claims that criticism of NHS England deal is ‘ideologically motivated’ Committee says it was appropriate for government to seek guidance on way out of £330m deal with US data company

It's absolutely right gov should explore triggering the break clause in Palantir’s NHS contract.

Concerns re: vendor lock in, how Palantir got the huge FDP deal, public benefit & whether their kit works for trusts are not "ideological" but very real.

www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

NHS staff boycott Palantir’s data platform over ethical concerns Controversial US tech group was awarded a £330mn contract in 2023 to collate hospital and patient information

NHS staff boycott Palantir’s data platform over ethical concerns.

www.ft.com/content/dbb6...

Ministers were accused of being "asleep at the wheel after the government deleted an estimate of new data centres' carbon emissions when experts asked why the figure was so low. Scant figures exist on projected emissions from the hundreds of facilities expected to be built in the next decade. However, one government report said last year that emissions would be negligible, at only 0.14 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year by 2035. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) calculated that data centres would account for only 0.05 per cent of the UK's emissions in 2035. However, that is far lower than the amount for a single data centre planned in Lincolnshire. The Elsham Tech Park would emit about a million tonnes of CO_ annually, on a par with most of British Airways short-haul flights. When Carbon Brief, a climate change website, asked the DSIT why its estimate appeared implausible, the department deleted the report. On March 19, it uploaded a new version, without an emissions figure, saying: -We... are updating this modelling to ensure it reflects the most up to date assumptions and analysis. Carbon Brief found that the true figure could be as much as 500 times higher than the government estimated, at 70 million tonnes of CO2- Tim Squirrell, head of strategy at the non-profit "tech Foxglove, said: justice" group "This shows that the government is asleep at the wheel when it comes to the environmental impact of data centres. "This was the only estimate we had seen from DSIT of the carbon emissions which would result from generative Al. It is deeply alarming that it bore no apparent relation to reality. The Times reported recently that data centres could use more electricity than Britain now consumes at its peak. The government expects data centre emissions to decline as the electricity grid decarbonises. An official said: "As Al rapidly develops, it is only right we keep the technical estimates informing our work under routine review."

After we @foxglovelegal.bsky.social worked with Carbon Brief to show the government’s data centres emissions projections were a fantasy, government responded by… deleting the projections and replacing them with a note that they are under “routine review”. So much for transparency.

The government is reportedly considering triggering the break clause in Palantir’s NHS data contract.
It's a no-brainer - this break clause is an exit ramp and the government should take it.

Ministers explore triggering break clause in Palantirs NHS contract.

Ministers are reportedly exploring how to cancel dangerous spy-tech firm Palantir's contract to handle NHS data after over 150k people joined me in calling on them to break the contract.

Join us - together we can kick out Palantir out of our NHS:

you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/st...

Ministers explore triggering break clause in Palantir’s NHS contract Government is under pressure to eject the controversial American company from NHS England data systems

www.ft.com/content/2d2b...

Ministers consider triggering the break clause in Palantir's NHS contract. They should. Palantir has no place in the NHS. @justtreatment.org @labourlewis.bsky.social @foxglovelegal.bsky.social

Support our call to the UK Government for transparency over Lord Mandelson's links with Palantir - sign here: www.foxglove.org.uk/campaigns/ma...

Calls to halt UK Palantir contracts grow amid ‘lack of transparency’ over deals Opposition MPs urge Labour to pause public contracts with the US tech firm after attempts to examine deals blocked

"In December the MoD refused to release a partnership agreement signed by the defence secretary, John Healey, and Palantir’s Karp in London, which preceded last month’s £241m contract with Palantir."

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

The Government must reveal all details of Peter Mandelson’s links to Palantir - Foxglove Sign the petition for an urgent investigation into Peter Mandelson's dealings with Palantir. Did he use his position as UK Ambassador to benefit the US spy tech firm?

I just signed a petition calling for an urgent investigation into Peter Mandelson's dealings with Palantir. Did he use his position as UK Ambassador to benefit the US spy tech firm? Sign now: www.foxglove.org.uk/campaigns/ma...

There might be good reasons for Britain to build data centres. Job creation isn’t one of them Estimate*estimate

www.ft.com/content/1a48...

Great @financialtimes.com coverage including @foxglovelegal.bsky.social's work exposing the realities behind claims about data centre job creation...

Government admits its approval for Buckinghamshire AI datacentre should be quashed Campaigners hail U-turn during legal challenge over proposed centre an ‘embarrassing climbdown’

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Great write up of our case with @globalactionplan.bsky.social in @theguardian.com

As Rosa says “It shouldn’t take us having to drag the government to court for them to admit their decision to back big tech’s polluting datacentres was fundamentally wrong,”

Press release: UK Government admits "serious error" in forcing through hyperscale data centre without environmental protections This is the first time the UK government has admitted its decision to force through a new hyperscale data centre was wrong. It's a big win.

Big news today as UK Government concedes in data centre court case.

“It shouldn’t take us having to drag the Government to court for them to admit their decision to back Big Tech’s polluting data centres was fundamentally wrong," says Foxglove's Rosa Curling: www.foxglove.org.uk/2026/01/22/u...

🎉 The UK Government has admitted “serious error” in forcing through the Woodlands hyperscale data centre without environmental protections in response to @foxglovelegal.bsky.social & @globalactionplan.bsky.social's legal case. More below

Thanks to everyone who helped make this case possible.

Press release: TikTok faces first legal action over unlawful union-busting in London  - Foxglove Social media giant TikTok is facing legal action for threatening its critical safety workers with redundancy just days before they were due …

New: TikTok is facing legal action over union-busting measures against key safety workers in London:

www.foxglove.org.uk/2025/12/19/p...

TikTok faces legal action over moderator cuts TikTok is being accused of threatening safety workers with redundancy days before they were due to vote on forming a union.

🗞️ News: @foxglovelegal.bsky.social has launched a new case against TikTok in the UK for union busting. Read more in Sky's coverage here:

news.sky.com/story/tiktok...

We proud to support TikTok workers, Julio & others, alongside @leigh-day.bsky.social and @utaw.tech union. Details below!

Commission opens investigation into possible anticompetitive conduct by Google in the use of online content for AI purposes The European Commission has opened a formal antitrust investigation to assess whether Google has breached EU competition rules by using the content of web publishers, as well as content uploaded on th

EC has formally opened an investigation into Google for using publishers’ content without meaningful consent or compensation for its AI Overviews feature.

Big win for civil society orgs like @foxglovelegal.bsky.social who’ve been asking for this.

ec.europa.eu/commission/p...

EU investigates Google over AI-generated summaries in search results It is examining whether the tech giant did not offer

Good news: earlier this year, we called on the European Commission to act over Google's theft of independent journalists' work to fuel 'AI Overviews'. Today they announced that they've opened an investigation: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

'Rosa Curling, co-executive director of Foxglove - which had called on the Commission in June to tackle the impact of AI Overviews - said "clear & present" dangers to journalism and democracy remain. "We need an urgent opt out for news publishers to stop Google from stealing their reporting today."'

Exclusive: Google's AI Overviews hit by EU antitrust complaint from independent publishers An independent publisher's group said Google is abusing its market power in online search.

Thanks to everyone who is part of this work. Further reporting on the original complaint here: www.reuters.com/legal/litiga...

This global issue needs a global response. If you're a newsroom, or NGO worried about Google's theft of news and you want to chat - please reach out.

As Rosa says regulators need to move 💨 "We need an urgent opt out for publishers to stop Google stealing their reporting today – not when this investigation is finished, otherwise, there will be little left, by the time the Commission is ready to act."

For 12+ months @foxglovelegal.bsky.social and partners in Brazil, the UK, across the EU and South Africa have been gathering evidence and filing complaints to competition regulators around the world calling for urgent action to stop Google's theft of news through its generative AI overviews.

EU investigates Google over AI-generated summaries in search results It is examining whether the tech giant did not offer

We @foxglovelegal.bsky.social were delighted the European Commission yesterday announced it will investigate Google AI Overviews in response to our complaint.

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

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/...