0Icelanders Seek To Keep Remote Nordic Peninsula Digital-Free (apnews.com)	null/SLASHDOT/0102641672		70
i  Thursday September 06, 2018 @11:30PM (BeauHD)
i  from the no-cellphones-allowed dept.
i
i    Hikers,   park  rangers,  and  summer  residents  of  Iceland's
i    northernmost  peninsula  are seeking to keep the area free from
i    internet  service,  worrying  that all that comes with it "will
i    destroy  a  way  of life that depends on the absence of [email,
i    news,  and  social  media]," reports the Associated Press. "The
i    area  has long resisted cell towers, but commercial initiatives
i    could  take  the  decision  out  of  Icelanders' hands and push
i    Hornstrandir  across  the  digital  divide."  From  the report:
i    Despite  or because of its remoteness, Iceland ranks first on a
i    U.N.  index  comparing  nations  by information technology use,
i    with  roughly  98 percent of the population using the internet.
i    Among  adults,  93  percent report having Facebook accounts and
i    two-thirds  are Snapchat users, according to pollster MMR. Many
i    people  who  live  in  northwestern Iceland or visit as outdoor
i    enthusiasts  want  Hornstrandir's  570  square  kilometers (220
i    square  miles),  which  accounts  for  0.6 percent of Iceland's
i    land  mass,  to  be  declared  a  "digital-free zone." The idea
i    hasn't  coalesced  into  a petition or formal campaign, so what
i    it  would require or prohibit hasn't been fleshed out. The last
i    full-time  resident of the rugged area moved away in 1952 -- it
i    never  was  an  easy place to farm -- but many descendants have
i    turned   family  farmsteads  into  summer  getaways.  Northwest
i    Iceland's  representative,  Halla  Signy Kristjansdottir, is in
i    favor  of  adding  cell  towers  for  the safety of sailors and
i    travelers  in  the  area.  "I don't see anything romantic about
i    lying  on  the ground with a broken thigh bone and no cellphone
i    signal," Kristjansdottir said in an interview.
i