New York Freeze Brings 2026 Data Center Rejections To 179; New Report Confirms Surging “Anti-Tech Sentiment”

July 28, 2026

On Tuesday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed an executive order banning the construction of large data centers for one year. It’s the first statewide ban in the US, and yet another example of the growing backlash against Big Tech and data centers. Hochul’s ban is the 179th rejection or restriction of data centers in the US in 2026. For comparison, there were 49 rejections in 2025 and just 9 in 2024. All of these are documented in the Data Center Rejection Database, which is the only free, online, searchable database of its kind.

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