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Indonesia’s Badawi Indigenous Group has requested that its area be cut off from the internet to “reduce the negative impact of smartphones and the virtual world” on its members, representatives said Friday.
The Badawi community adheres to its traditional oral culture, and this community of 26,000 people in Banten Province, on the island of Java, is divided into two parts: a marginal group that partially adopts new technologies, and a central group that tries to avoid the dangers of modern life.
The Central Group called on the authorities to cut off the Internet and divert the communications antennas located nearby so that the signal does not reach them, according to a letter seen by the French Press Agency.
According to the letter, telecommunication antennas built near their area can threaten the lifestyle of residents and the mental health of young people who may be inclined to use the Internet.
Officials in Lebak district, Banten province, said they received the letter last Monday and agreed to speak with the Indonesian Ministry of Information to try to respond to this request.
“Above all, we want to adapt to what people of the Badoi community want, and we have to preserve their traditions and local knowledge,” Libak official Budi Santoso said on Friday.
Residents in the marginal group within the Badawi community need the Internet to run companies they have established through the network, but according to Santoso, the authorities fear that visitors or tourists will access the network and publish content that they consider unsuitable for the Badawi community.
The isolated Badawi community has chosen to live in the jungle, rejecting traditional technology, financial services and education.
The members of this community reside in 3 villages spread over an area of 4 thousand hectares, an hour’s drive from the capital, Jakarta.
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