The revolt against Meta’s ‘pervert glasses’ is part of a growing storm

All this is happening while the data center backlash continues to escalate.

Last week, a Heatmap poll found that 75% of Americans now oppose data center construction in their area.

75%, three out of four people you talk to on the street now oppose data centers.

According to the Heatmap data, this is a pretty astonishing rise.

In August 2025, this number was only 42%, and just five months ago, it was 51%.

This has been a sharp escalation now, and it's creating a political flashpoint in the upcoming midterms.

It is what Politico is calling data centers, quote, "Oh, shit" moment.

In a closely watched race, Republican Mike Rogers, who's running against the progressive Abdul El-Sayed for US Senate in Michigan, came out in support of a one-year moratorium on building new data centers, reflecting a concession to what has been a consistent point of attack from El-Sayed.

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, an early data center cheerleader, we might add, signed an executive order requiring local approval before data centers can receive permits.

It echoes the audit sort of put in place by Texas Governor Greg Abbott.

In Indiana, data centers are, quote, "Unifying Hoosiers in opposition," according to Ben Inskeep, who's writing in the Indiana Capital Chronicle.

In response to the poll and to this new spate of data center moratoria and regulations, Silicon Valley has more or less absolutely melted down.

They claim the opposition is a psyop, or it's funded by the Chinese Communist Party, or the result of mass psychosis, and so on.

Anything but face the facts.

I particularly enjoyed this take from the policy director of the Foundation for American Innovation, arguing that limiting data centers, uh, is the equivalent to installing population controls on the soon-to-be sentient AI minds.

Perfect stuff.

You, you can't make that up.

Now, all this is happening at the same moment that the backlash to Flock cameras is growing louder and more ambitious.

Cities around the country are canceling contracts and kicking out the company's automated license plate readers.

Now, it's pretty clear why.

These things have been used to track women seeking reproductive care across state lines, to help cops stalk their exes, uh, and assist ICE in hunting down migrant workers.

People hate this stuff.

The backlash has gotten so large, in fact, that Flock CEO Garrett Langley went on Fox News to beg for a compromise.

I value my privacy.

My family values their privacy.