Maryland Data Center Moratorium Followed Activist Campaign Backed by PSL
Taylor Frazier McCollum began a petition in June 2025 opposing plans for a data center at a long-abandoned mall site in Landover. The petition initially drew 180 signatures. After the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) shared a video featuring McCollum, signatures rose to more than 20,000, and the group continued promoting her campaign online and at events.
PSL members helped organize opposition, including rallies and neighborhood outreach. Demonstrators held signs bearing the group’s logo, and a flyer distributed by McCollum’s group, No Landover Data, also featured it. PSL has posted about a dozen videos highlighting her data center activism since September 2025. McCollum has also appeared in its videos about other causes.
The PSL is a Marxist-Leninist organization that has been described as having financial and personnel ties to activist groups associated with Neville Roy Singham, a businessman based in China. Singham has been accused of supporting a pro-China network. McCollum offered no comment on whether she receives money from PSL or a related organization.
In July, the Prince George’s County Council approved a two-year pause on data center development, temporarily blocking the proposed project. McCollum has called for a permanent ban and said the abandoned site could instead become an indoor trampoline park. Opponents of the moratorium argue the county will lose the project’s investment and tax revenue; the campaign has framed its opposition around community impacts, including power bills and environmental concerns.
McCollum spoke at a Baltimore summit on opposition to data centers the week before November 10. The event included Rep. Jamie Raskin and a panel on activists’ campaigns against the industry.
Community Campaign Challenged Big Tech Project, Despite Attacks on Its Organizers
A local campaign against a proposed $5 billion data center helped persuade Prince George’s County to pause development for two years. Taylor Frazier McCollum began a petition in June 2025 over plans to build on an abandoned mall site in Landover, raising concerns about the project’s effects on the community.
The petition had 180 signatures before the Party for Socialism and Liberation amplified McCollum in a video. It later surpassed 20,000 signatures. PSL members helped organize rallies and neighborhood outreach, and demonstrators carried signs bearing the group’s logo. McCollum’s group, No Landover Data, has also distributed flyers with that logo.
The PSL is a Marxist-Leninist organization with reported financial and personnel connections to groups associated with China-based businessman Neville Roy Singham. Those connections have prompted claims that opposition to data centers serves Chinese interests. But the campaign’s visible message has focused on local concerns, including power bills and the proposed project’s impact on the community. McCollum has not offered a comment on whether she receives money from PSL or related groups.
The county’s two-year moratorium temporarily blocks the Landover proposal. McCollum has called for a permanent ban and suggested an indoor trampoline park for the abandoned site. Critics of the pause emphasize the project’s $5 billion investment and potential tax revenue; the local campaign has argued that residents should have a say in what is built in their community.
McCollum spoke at a Baltimore summit on data center opposition the week before November 10, on a panel about activists’ campaigns against the industry.
Maryland’s Data Center Freeze Came After Socialist Group Boosted Opposition
A proposed $5 billion Maryland investment is on hold after Prince George’s County approved a two-year moratorium on data center development. The campaign against the Landover project was led by Taylor Frazier McCollum and amplified by the Party for Socialism and Liberation, a Marxist-Leninist group linked through funding and personnel to organizations associated with China-based businessman Neville Roy Singham.
McCollum started a petition in June 2025 opposing a data center planned for an abandoned mall site. It had 180 signatures before PSL publicized her campaign in a video; the total later rose above 20,000. The group also organized outreach and rallies, and supplied signs bearing its logo. PSL has continued featuring McCollum’s activism online.
The project’s opponents have raised concerns about local impacts, including electricity bills. But the moratorium also blocks, at least for now, a project valued at $5 billion and the tax revenue its supporters say it would bring. McCollum has advocated a permanent ban and suggested the vacant site could become an indoor trampoline park.
The PSL’s connections to groups associated with Singham have fueled concerns that opposition to data centers may benefit China. McCollum has provided no comment on whether she receives financial support from PSL or related organizations. The group’s role in promoting the campaign makes it important to scrutinize who is organizing and shaping opposition to major technology projects.
McCollum appeared at a Baltimore summit on data center opposition the week before November 10. Prince George’s County’s two-year pause is in effect, temporarily preventing construction of the Landover project.
Reported by Washington Free Beacon, Townhall.
