Police remove five activists from Vienna trade fair roof

Police and firefighters brought five activists down from the roof of Messe Wien, an exhibition venue, during a protest against the expansion of large-scale data centres. ORF reported that the protest took place on Tuesday while an event on artificial intelligence and data centres was under way inside.

Activists from several groups, including Attac and the initiative “Data centres, no thanks!”, protested outside Data Center World Europe. Police spokesman Markus Dittrich told ORF Vienna that a rally at the venue had been registered.

Five protesters climbed onto the roof and put up a banner. The WEGA police unit and the professional fire brigade responded, with firefighters using a telescopic aerial platform to help bring them down. Three activists were temporarily arrested because their identities could not be established, Dittrich said.

Attac called for a halt to all data centre construction projects, arguing that hyperscale facilities consume land, water and large amounts of electricity while creating few jobs. The group also said data centres are often used for surveillance and military technologies and war crimes.

“We urgently need a moratorium on all construction projects and a debate about who data centres are being built by, for whom and for what purpose, or whether they should be built at all,” said Hanna Braun of Attac Austria.