I’m specifically using Voyager on iOS and MacOS (and in Windows via BlueStacks) because I do exactly this. I block several whole instances (lemmygrad and hexbear), the active politics communities, and also specific keywords (elon, musk, trump, gop, republican, etc.), so I’m even able to browse All without my eyeballs being seared.
Closer to the equator means less fuel to orbit because the Earth spins fastest at the equator so you don’t have to add as much delta-v.
The Alaska one I’d bet is for military ops or maybe polar satellite installations.