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 [1]seeking to keep the area free i from internet service , worrying that all that comes with it i "will destroy a way of life that depends on the absence of i [email, news, and social media]," reports the Associated i Press. "The area has long resisted cell towers, but commercial i initiatives could take the decision out of Icelanders' hands i and push Hornstrandir across the digital divide." From the i report: i i > Despite or because of its remoteness, Iceland ranks first on i a 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. i i Northwest Iceland's representative, Halla Signy i Kristjansdottir, is in favor of adding cell towers for the i safety of sailors and travelers in the area. "I don't see i anything romantic about lying on the ground with a broken i thigh bone and no cellphone signal," Kristjansdottir said in i an interview. i i i i [1] https://www.apnews.com/71cdfb7b1c2245069a6f681f8b8f906f/Wi- i red-Icelanders-seek-to-keep-remote-peninsula-digital-free i