Ranking Member Raskin Probes Big Tech’s Use of Non-Disclosure Agreements to Prevent Local Officials From Discussing Data Center Projects With Constituents

Raskin Demands Answers from Amazon, Google, Meta and Oracle Over Their Use of Secrecy Agreements That Gag Government Officials and Keep Americans in the Dark About Consequences of Data Center Projects Built in Their Communities

Washington, D.C. (September 30, 2026)—Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, launched an investigation into Amazon, Google, Meta and Oracle over their use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) that prevent local government officials from disclosing essential information about how proposed data center projects could affect their communities and constituents. Restrictive NDAs surrounding proposed data center projects prevent Americans from understanding the costs associated with such projects, including how much water and energy would be required to sustain the data center and whether that could increase their utility bills. In letters to the four tech giants, Ranking Member Raskin demanded answers about agreements that conceal critical details of proposed developments, including taxpayer-funded incentives and special carveouts from tax, environmental and zoning laws.

“Why is [your company] requiring state and local officials to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) preventing them from discussing data center projects with their own constituents?” wrote Ranking Member Raskin in the letters.

As Big Tech pours hundreds of billions of dollars into artificial intelligence infrastructure, more than 1,000 new data centers are reportedly in development across more than 40 states. Yet companies behind these projects are requiring public officials to sign NDAs that can prevent residents from learning even which corporation is building in their community, much less how the project could affect their electricity bills, water consumption and public health.

Across the country, powerful companies are using sweeping secrecy agreements to gag public officials and keep communities in the dark:

• Amazon: The company’s secrecy agreements prohibit local officials from disclosing broadly defined “proprietary” or “confidential” information, leaving them uncertain about what they can share with constituents. Amazon has also used shell companies to conceal its involvement in proposed data centers.
• Google: A company representative acknowledged instructing local government officials in San Jose to sign secrecy agreements to avoid a public relations problem if details of a proposed project became public.
• Meta: Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry personally signed a secrecy agreement with a Meta subsidiary connected to a $50 billion data center campus, restricting disclosure of proposed terms and pricing information involving taxpayer money.

In Boyce, Louisiana, residents learned about a proposed 300-acre, multibillion-dollar data center only after fences had gone up and ground clearing had begun. When residents pressed officials about the project’s environmental impact, they were told a study had found negligible effects but that the study itself could not be released for contractual reasons.

“Residents cannot weigh a project’s costs against its benefits, hold their officials accountable, or safeguard their own resources when the basic terms are kept secret,” wrote Ranking Member Raskin.

Ranking Member Raskin is demanding that all four companies produce their non-disclosure or confidentiality agreements with public officials, disclose projected electricity and water consumption for their U.S. data centers and explain whether they have used these agreements to block public records requests. He is also pressing the companies to explain why they continue to require NDAs after another leading tech company, Microsoft, announced in March that it would no longer use NDAs with local governments.

Click here to read the letter to Amazon.
Click here to read the letter to Google.
Click here to read the letter to Meta.

Click here to read the letter to Oracle.