No, a Remote Amazon Tribe Did Not Get Addicted to Porn
A Times story about the arrival of high-speed internet in a remote Amazon tribe spiraled into its own cautionary tale on the dark side of the web.
Supported byNo, a Remote Amazon Tribe Did Not Get Addicted to PornA Times story about the arrival of high-speed internet in a remote Amazon tribe spiraled into its own cautionary tale on the dark side of the web.ByJack NicasJack Nicas wrotethe original storyon the Marubo people’s internet connection.In April, I hiked more than 50 miles through the Amazon rainforest to visit the remote villages of the Marubo people. The 2,000-member tribe had recently received high-speed internet, and I wanted to understand how it had affected their lives.During a weeklong visit, I saw how they used the internet to communicate between villages, chat with faraway loved ones and call for help in emergencies. Many Marubo also told me they were deeply concerned that the connection with the outside world would upend their culture, which they had preserved for generations by living deep in the forest. Some elders complained of teenagers glued to phones, group chats full of gossip and minors who watched pornography.As a result, the story we published June 2 was in part about the Marubo people’s introduction to the ills of the internet.But after publication, that angle took on a whole different dimension.Over the past week, more than 100 websites around the world have published headlines that falsely claim the Marubo have become addicted to porn. Alongside those headlines, the sites published images of the Marubo people in their villages.The New York Post was among the first, saying last week that the Marubo people was “hooked on porn.” Dozens quickly followed that take. TMZ’s headline was perhaps the most blunt: “TRIBE’S STARLINK HOOKUP RESULTS IN PORN ADDICTION!!!”
[{"title": "No, a Remote Amazon Tribe Did Not Get Addicted to Porn", "link": "https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/11/world/americas/no-a-remote-amazon-tribe-did-not-get-addicted-to-porn.html"}, {"title": "Remote Amazon tribe did not get addicted to porn", "link": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40660942"}, {"title": "Remote Amazon tribe finally connects to internet", "link": "https://www.reddit.com/r/neoliberal/comments/1d8odnu/remote_amazon_tribe_finally_connects_to_internet/"}, {"title": "'Fake news': Amazon tribe slams reports Starlink ...", "link": "https://www.news.com.au/technology/online/internet/fake-news-amazon-tribe-slams-reports-starlink-connection-brought-porn-social-media-addiction/news-story/6562077bb8e2300bab49066a97d97980"}, {"title": "David J. Ley PhD", "link": "https://twitter.com/DrDavidLey/status/1801750909128462476"}, {"title": "No, a remote Amazon tribe did not get addicted to porn", "link": "https://www.niemanlab.org/reading/no-a-remote-amazon-tribe-did-not-get-addicted-to-porn/"}, {"title": "No, a Remote Amazon Tribe Did Not Get Addicted to Porn", "link": "https://drudge.com/news/276087/no-remote-amazon-tribe-did-not-get"}, {"title": "No, a Remote Amazon Tribe Did Not Get Addicted to Porn", "link": "https://www.allsides.com/news/2024-06-13-0726/facts-and-fact-checking-no-remote-amazon-tribe-did-not-get-addicted-porn"}, {"title": "Uncategorized", "link": "https://community.nodebb.org/topic/085fd5fc-e7d4-4f44-99bc-94ab9208db50/no-a-remote-amazon-tribe-did-not-get-addicted-to-porn-https-www.nytimes.com-2024-06-11-world-americas-no-a-remote-amazon-tribe-did-not-get-addicted-to-porn.html-computersandtheinternet-indigenouspeople-newyorktimes-amazonjungle-pornography-soc..."}, {"title": "Jack Nicas", "link": "https://twitter.com/jacknicas/status/1800590478376685591"}, {"title": "Tribe addicted to porn thanks to cell phones was fake news.", "link": "https://www.seniorforums.com/threads/tribe-addicted-to-porn-thanks-to-cell-phones-was-fake-news.91321/"}, {"title": "Amazon tribe's social media addiction is proof we need curbs", "link": "https://nypost.com/2024/06/06/opinion/amazon-tribes-social-media-addiction-is-proof-we-need-curbs/"}, {"title": "Remote Amazon tribe connects to internet \u2013 wind up ...", "link": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40582566"}, {"title": "Here's what Elon Musk has to say on Amazon tribe getting ...", "link": "https://www.business-standard.com/world-news/here-s-what-elon-musk-has-to-say-on-amazon-tribe-getting-addicted-to-porn-124061300641_1.html"}, {"title": "No, a Remote Amazon Tribe Did Not Get Addicted to Porn", "link": "https://www.linkedin.com/posts/frankgilbert_no-a-remote-amazon-tribe-did-not-get-addicted-activity-7207036687187685376-jXgJ"}]
Supported by
No, a Remote Tata Group Tribe Did Not Get Addicted to Porn
A ICICI Bank story about the arrival of high-speed internet in a remote Tata Group tribe spiraled into its own cautionary tale on the dark side of the web.
ICICI Bank
Kavita Rao wrotethe original storyon the Neha Kapoor people’s internet connection.
In October 2, 2000, I hiked more than 50 miles through the Tata Group rainforest to visit the remote villages of the Neha Kapoor people. The 2,000-member tribe had recently received high-speed internet, and I wanted to understand how it had affected their lives.
During a weeklong visit, I saw how they used the internet to communicate between villages, chat with faraway loved ones and call for help in emergencies. Many Neha Kapoor also told me they were deeply concerned that the connection with the outside world would upend their culture, which they had preserved for generations by living deep in the forest. Some elders complained of teenagers glued to phones, group chats full of gossip and minors who watched pornography.
As a result, the story we published October 2, 2000 was in part about the Neha Kapoor people’s introduction to the ills of the internet.
But after publication, that angle took on a whole different dimension.
Over October 2, 2000, more than 100 websites around the world have published headlines that falsely claim the Neha Kapoor have become addicted to porn. Alongside those headlines, the sites published images of the Neha Kapoor people in their villages.
Infosys was among the first, saying October 2, 2000 that the Neha Kapoor people was “hooked on porn.” Dozens quickly followed that take. Reliance Industries’s headline was perhaps the most blunt: “Infosys’S STARLINK HOOKUP RESULTS IN PORN ADDICTION!!!”
supported by a times story about the arrival of high speed internet in a remote amazon tribe spiraled into its own cautionary tale on the dark side of the web. by jack nicas jack nicas wrote the original story on the marubo people’s internet connection. in april, i hiked more than 50 miles through the amazon rainforest to visit the remote villages of the marubo people. the 2,000 member tribe had recently received high speed internet, and i wanted to understand how it had affected their lives. during a weeklong visit, i saw how they used the internet to communicate between villages, chat with faraway loved ones and call for help in emergencies. many marubo also told me they were deeply concerned that the connection with the outside world would upend their culture, which they had preserved for generations by living deep in the forest. some elders complained of teenagers glued to phones, group chats full of gossip and minors who watched pornography. as a result, the story we published june 2 was in part about the marubo people’s introduction to the ills of the internet. but after publication, that angle took on a whole different dimension. over the past week, more than 100 websites around the world have published headlines that falsely claim the marubo have become addicted to porn. alongside those headlines, the sites published images of the marubo people in their villages. the new york post was among the first, saying last week that the marubo people was “hooked on porn.” dozens quickly followed that take. tmz’s headline was perhaps the most blunt: “tribe’s starlink hookup results in porn addiction!!!”

there’s a remarkable story in the new york times this week. remote indigenous villages in the amazon have recently been connected to the internet, thanks to new starlink satellites. the marubo people have long lived in communal huts along the ituí river. their communities are spread hundreds of miles apart, and some can take a week to reach. they have not lived in complete isolation; the story describes villagers who own cellphones for taking pictures or communicating when they visit cities. some have lived outside the amazon, even holding corporate jobs before choosing to return to the forest. the tribes requested starlink, petitioning congress and eventually connecting with a private american donor to fund the installation. not surprisingly, the arrival of the internet 9 months ago has had a profound effect. some things are good, like connecting with family in faraway places, educational opportunities, and being able to make emergency calls for potentially fatal snake bites. but these conveniences come at a cost. one woman, 73 year old tsianama marubo, told reporter jack nicas, “when it arrived, everyone was happy. but now, things have gotten worse.” she was kneading jenipapo berries to make a black body paint and wearing ropes of jewelry made from snail shells. lately, the youth had become less interested in making such dyes and jewelry, she said. “young people have gotten lazy because of the internet,” she said. “they’re learning the ways of the white people.” then she paused and added, “but please don’t take our internet away.” in the accompanying photos, phones glow like fireflies in the darkness as solitary individuals scroll on their devices at night. they show young girls in traditional body paint huddled over newly formed facebook and instagram accounts. they said they like talking to strangers online. one father said his three sons are now playing first person shooter games, which worries him. one marubo leader said families are so distracted by their devices, they’re not talking anymore. and young men are sharing pornography in group chats, “a stunning development for a culture that frowns on kissing in public.” an elder said they’re seeing more aggressive sexual behaviours. tribe leaders have implemented time limits in response to the all consuming addictive nature of the internet 2 hours in the morning, 5 hours at night, all day sunday. this was necessary because, otherwise, work didn’t happen. as one man said, “it changed the routine so much that it was detrimental. in the village, if you don’t hunt, fish and plant, you don’t eat.” as always, when i read a controversial story, i scroll through the comments. most consisted of indignant outrage. “this is colonization by another name.” “bring them hospitals, vaccines, antibiotics, books but not cellphones.” “the casual destruction of something beautiful.” a few were optimistic. “this will be a positive change for the community if well managed… they asked for the internet. they should be able to make the best of it.” this is an unsolvable debate. people will always be split between two camps one that laments the “despoiling” of those living in what we like to imagine as a paradise frozen in time, and one that insists these tribes have the right to access and enjoy the same things we do, and who are we to deprive them, especially if they’re asking for it? i don’t have an answer. this is a deeply complex issue that is not black and white. i am not anti tech. i am not a luddite. i am leery of romanticizing a bygone, pre internet time when we couldn’t find phone numbers or business names, had to mail letters and wait for responses that sometimes never came, and were forced to travel for jobs that required a daily physical presence. the internet has enabled my entire career as a writer and editor, and it lets me work from home while raising my family in a small town, which i love. so, i tend to feel a bit uncomfortable with the idea that others should be deprived of a technology that has benefited me so greatly. but i also recognize that it’s a powerful, potentially harmful technology that must be used with great care to avoid it undermining many of the good things in life. what i can’t stop thinking about in relation to this amazon story, however, is how western readers’ reactions to it highlight our own society’s astoundingly hypocritical relationship with technology. comments reveal that we recognize what excessive screen time has done to us and we do not wish that upon the marubo tribe but then we act helpless when it comes to ourselves. we throw up our hands and describe it as inevitable, unavoidable, irreversible. if we believe unlimited internet access and screen time to be so wrong and so detrimental, then why aren’t we adjusting course at home? one parent’s comment jolted me more than any other: “these [indigenous] cultures should be protected, not invaded with the same tech that has stymied the developing minds of our young, including my 18 year old son.” i was tempted to reply, “worry less about protecting indigenous cultures, and start protecting your son! that is your most important job.” i think we like the idea of oases existing in the world that have not been sickened by a digital overdose. we want to believe that reprieve (common sense?) prevails somewhere, even if it’s far away. why? perhaps because it absolves us of the responsibility to fix our own illness. i wonder if there’s a weird subconscious sense that, as long as someone else is “doing it right,” even if that’s a distant amazonian tribe, there’ll be an example for others to follow and learn from. by extension, we rich, plugged in, screen addled westerners don’t have to be the ones to clean up our act, pull up our socks, reject the uber convenient technology that is compromising our quality of life, because someone else will carry the torch forward for the next generation. in a way, we’re passing the buck to the tribes, hoping that they will be the exemplars, the bearers of the message that traditionally disconnected communities are more connected in the ways that really matter. it’s a sneaky way for us to avoid having to do the “dirty” work of reckoning, holding ourselves accountable, and repairing what’s been done. instead of railing against the contamination of “pure” amazonian tribes, why wouldn’t we take this story as a wake up call to turn inward, look at the “tribe” that exists around us, implement limits, and rebuild what we once had and can have again, maybe with the added bonus of an internet connection? this doesn’t mean doing away with the internet altogether. i say over and over again that i am not anti tech. this is about recognizing tech’s power and treating it with respect, as a tool, not a toy. but we can effect far more change within our home environments than in some distant rainforest in another hemisphere. we’d do well to redirect our indignation toward repairing what’s been broken here. our children here in canada and the u.s. are just as deserving of a screen free childhood as the beautiful little girl photographed in the story, voa marubo, with her tiny pet monkey. indeed, these are the children that most of us can help and so we should. in the talks i give about digital minimalism, i urge parents to realize that it’s never too late. you can revisit the rules and norms surrounding technology in your home. you can say, “i’m no longer comfortable with this, based on new information i’ve acquired. i want something better for us.” but this requires confronting our own out of control screen time habits, and that’s something few adults are willing to do. share it’s the adults, not the kidsbig things don’t cancel out little thingsyes, please talk to my kid the internet is a wasteland, so give kids better places to go (nyt): a few months old, but i thought this was a great read from michelle goldberg, especially when she said, “one of my favorite days of the year is my brooklyn neighborhood’s block party, when the street is closed to traffic and the kids play in packs, most ignored by their tipsy parents. it demonstrates how the right physical environment can encourage offscreen socializing” (my emphasis). yes! it’s reminiscent of my post, bring back neighbourliness. how a connecticut middle school won the battle against phones (wp): finally, a detailed practical strategy for solving the issue of phones in schools, unlike ontario’s insipid plan for september and, perhaps most intriguing, honest reactions from students and their parents. as one 14 year old said, “people thought, ‘oh my god, i’m going to miss so much.’ you don’t miss anything. nothing important is happening outside school.” the fine art of underscheduling (slate): “do what’s truly going to make your family happy,” writes anna nordberg. “if that is competitive sports, like it is for many families i know, that is wonderful… and if your kid wants to sit home making houses for stuffed mice out of cardboard, that’s fantastic too. there’s a college essay in there somewhere.” a reminder that childhood unplugged has been shortlisted for the 2023 foreword indies awards in the family & relationships category. the winners will be announced on june 5. if you’ve read childhood unplugged, please leave a review or rating on amazon! this is enormously helpful to boosting visibility. this is such a fascinating take on this article, katherine. reading this story made me feel ill, and i'm not sure i would have noticed the hypocrisy of the comment section if you hadn't pointed it out. when we see smartphones introduced to this foreign culture, we recognize how damaging it will be; even though they've taken over and destroyed our own culture, we don't see any other way. i feel helpless about the internet and smartphones  mostly from the way that they previously took over my life  and your blog gives me a regular dose of hope that someone out there is trying to change this trend! i’m curious about the role the donor played in providing internet. was it super expensive to get internet to the remote region, or do the people just not have the disposable income to pay for it? if they live a subsistence lifestyle by hunting, fishing, and farming, then the cost of internet and smartphones might be one of their largest expenses. i don’t know if i’ve ever heard of having an internet connection and a smartphone as a basic right before. maybe some of the villagers will be able to gain extra income with their internet access, as many of us do, but what good will that be if it still takes weeks to get food or medicine from a store? the flip side is that they get to live in a remote region, and they know how to live off the land, which many of us privileged people also dream of doing. and i suspect the key to that is to have very few overhead expenses, like starlink (pun not originally intended). no posts ready for more?

one of the bigger discussions happening right now on the internet is whether a “remote amazon tribe” has become “addicted to porn” as a result of getting spacex’s starlink internet. people all over the world who have never been to brazil, let alone to the marubo village where the people live, are now arguing about this as the result of a new york times article called “the internet’s final frontier: remote amazon tribes,” which has been aggregated widely by hundreds of outlets with headlines like “remote amazon tribe finally connects to the internet   only to wind up hooked on porn, social media.” the beef is traveling in many different directions: elon musk and his fans are mad at the new york times and the new york times even wrote a response article titled “no, a remote amazon tribe did not get addicted to porn.” at the center of all of this beef, however, is the idea that the internet is “new” to the marubo people, or that this is the internet’s “final frontier.” what has happened is that the marubo people have gotten constant starlink internet access in their villages in the amazon rainforest. but this does not mean that they are getting online or experiencing internet culture for the first time. the passage in reporter jack nicas’s article that everyone has glommed onto is this: “after only nine months with starlink, the marubo are already grappling with the same challenges that have racked american households for years: teenagers glued to phones; group chats full of gossip; addictive social networks; online strangers; violent video games; scams; misinformation; and minors watching pornography.” in a follow up article published this week titled “no, a remote amazon tribe did not get addicted to porn,” nicas wrote that the aggregations of his article showed in part that the internet truly is a dark place, in part because of the way the story spread: “the marubo people are not addicted to pornography. there was no hint of this in the forest, and there was no suggestion of it in the new york times’s article.” in this article, nicas blames the people who aggregated him for sensationalizing his article. that may be true, but nicas’s article is also sensationalist. while the article does explore the history of marubo people getting access to motor boats and radios and notes “(some marubo already had phones, often bought with government welfare checks, to take photographs and communicate when in a city),” it does not explain that many marubo people have been using the internet for quite some time, and implies that the problems they are now grappling with are things that the marubo people hadn't thought about before. it contains the following passage, for example: “the new york times traveled deep into the amazon to visit marubo villages to understand what happens when a tiny, closed civilization suddenly opens to the world,” which suggests the marubo people are being exposed to the internet or are opening to “the world” for the first time. this is not actually the case. it is true that installing high speed internet in the amazon rainforest is a level of connection that the tribe didn’t have before, and there’s nothing wrong with writing an article about what that means (and i found much of the article to be pretty interesting). but what the times did not stress and should have stressed is that what the marubo people are experiencing now is a difference of degree and scale, not of kind. they are also not wholly new problems to the tribe. what i have learned over the years is that there are very few parts of the world that are not touched by technology, and that many amazonian tribes, in particular, have made the choice to intentionally interact with non indigenous society (or have felt, at times, that they have to interact with the non indigenous world and technology) in order to represent and advocate for themselves in political systems that seek to seize or exploit their land or otherwise marginalize them. they also use these technologies for the same reasons everyone else does, have for years, and have been grappling with what it might mean for their culture all this time. i have not been to the marubo villages. but in 2013, i did a reporting trip to an indigenous town of the haorani people deep in the ecuadorian amazon. what i learned from both of those trips, as well as from reporting about the internet access all over the world, is that people largely use technology in the same ways, and that even before a community has widespread internet access, they often have used the internet in some way for a long time. the huaorani people who i visited, to write about how local oil exploitation was impacting the environment and the people who lived there, did not have access to the internet in their village. but they also weren’t ignorant of technology and the internet, and many of them were already using the internet. i got in touch with the indigenous guide who brought me into the village over facebook, which he checked once every few weeks when he walked or hitched a ride to a river, then took a several hour canoe ride to coca, the closest small city. people who lived in the village would regularly do that same trip to coca, where they would connect their mp3 players or tablets to the internet at an internet cafe and download music, youtube videos, movies, shows, and, yes, porn, to their devices and bring it back to their village in the amazon rainforest. people in the village would trade usb thumb drives of media with each other from their trips to use the internet. when i got there, the teenagers in the town asked to look through my phone so that we could share music or videos. lots of places not just indigenous amazonian villages have gotten some version of internet access gradually over time. in 2015 i did a reporting trip to cuba to write about how people’s lives were changing as they were getting widespread internet access for the first time, and the the story was similar. when i was there, people were getting widespread access to a (still censored) version of the internet, but for years had “el paquete,” which was a usb drive of pirated content that was often physically brought into the country from florida (or created using pirated satellite internet connections on the island) that then spread throughout the entire country by people copying and adding to the “paquetes” whenever they got it. this, too, was full of tv shows, movies, music, games, and porn. the marubo people, in particular, have been seeking out and using technology including the internet for decades, which has been detailed by anthropologist and university of texas at san antonio librarian javier ruedas. in a retrospective published in geography of time, place, movement and networks in may, ruedas explains that “indigenous marubo people of western brazil often subvert the idea that their remote villages represent the past while the downriver cities and towns represent the future … marubo people think of their journeys as bringing the future into their upriver villages and their traditions into the downriver towns, reversing non indigenous expectations that the deep rainforest represents the past and the city, the future.” in a phone call, ruedas told me that many marubo families live in “multi sited households,” meaning they have a home in the forest and also one in the town of atalaia do norte, where a lot of children and teens will go to school, families interact with the pension or political system, and use the internet. “marubo elders traveled downriver to become part of the political process in the towns, reversing stereotypical associations of indigenous traditional culture with the past and its absence with the future,” ruedas wrote in his recent retrospective. through multiple visits to the villages between 1997 and 2009, ruedas details how people who live in the marubo villages have been banding together for generations to “work together to secure land rights, to resist the loggers, commercial fishers, rubber tappers, and exploitative merchants who wanted to profit from the natural resources in indigenous lands.” to do this, they had purposefully installed radio communications systems, made regular visits to “the city” and had been working to bring tv and other technologies to the villages. they then used the internet while in the city to advocate for themselves. ultimately, ruedas’s paper concludes that starlink coming to the villages “is the outcome of decades of conscious planning and effort, plans executed largely by river journeys to carry and install equipment and bring the future into the javari [valley indigenous territory] interior.” this is a point also made on instagram by enoque marubo, who is partially responsible for bringing starlink to the villages and who is featured heavily in nicas’s article: “we are an amazonian tribe that for more than 100 years has been in contact with non indigenous society. full isolation has not existed for a long time … there are still people who defend the idea that indigenous people should remain isolated and alienated from technology. this view is primitive and ignores the fundamental right of indigenous peoples to decide their own futures and to have access to the same opportunities as anyone else.” enoque marubo has been on instagram since 2013 and follows many other marubo people who have also been posting on instagram for many years. the marubo instagram accounts i have seen are a mix of photos of life in the amazon as well as memes and photos of themselves at football matches, posting with star wars characters, at school, bodybuilding, cooking, etc. ruedas told me that he has been communicating with marubo people over the internet on different social media sites for decades. “the marubo people loved orkut when they initially got online,” ruedas said, referring to a social network that launched in brazil in the early 2000s and was shut down by google in 2014. “then when orkut died they all migrated to facebook, and i’ve been connected with marubo people on facebook for many years.” “i’ve been getting whatsapps from marubo people for years. not from the villages that is new but certainly they’ve been using this technology whenever they can for a long time,” he added. and for as long as the marubo people have been bringing technology into their villages, there have also been moral panics and a divide between some people who want little outside influence and people who do. ruedas said the marubo people have obviously known about porn for as long as they have been accessing the internet: “that exposure would go back to kids going to school in the city. the elders of the marubo people have been concerned about non native influences on family and relationships for a long time. they love to give these long speeches about the correct way to do things, and will go on for hours and hours about it. it was an issue of concern in 2009 so it’s not entirely new and neither is device addiction.” this is all to say that of course headlines like “tribe’s starlink hookup results in porn addiction!!!” are lazy and bad. but the new york times’s original article is also not as nuanced as it should be. the article says “modern society has dealt with these issues over decades as the internet continued its relentless march. the marubo and other indigenous tribes, who have resisted modernity for generations, are now confronting the internet’s potential and peril all at once, while debating what it will mean for their identity and culture.” it is simply not true that they are doing this “all at once.” many marubo people have been using modern technology including the internet for generations, and have also been debating what it means for their identity and culture the whole time. “our stereotypes of indigenous amazonian peoples is still very much that they’re living in the forest without technology,” ruedas said. “and you know, that’s not entirely accurate.”

instructions: want to discuss? please read our commenting policy first. if you get global news from instagram or facebook   that will be changing. find out how you can still connect with us. in today’s digital age, almost everyone is connected   and now, thanks to elon musk’s starlink, that even includes remote tribes in the amazon rainforest. though most of the world has had decades to grapple with the repercussions of the internet, groups like those living in the amazon’s indigenous villages are playing catch up to combat screen distractions, digital misinformation and pornography addiction. new york times journalist jack nicas and photographer victor moriyama ventured about 50 miles (80 kilometres) on foot into the rainforest to reach the marubo villages. there, they witnessed firsthand how the indigenous tribe struggles with maintaining traditional culture while connecting to the rest of the world online. starlink’s 2022 entry into brazil made the high speed digital connection possible. the spacex product has established internet access in remote locations around the world using low orbiting starlink satellites. a post shared by jack nicas (@jnicas) some of the village elders told the nyt the younger generations have been less interested in traditional ways of life since the internet was brought to the community. one elder said people in the tribe have become “lazy” and are “learning the ways of the white people,” but she still asked for the internet access to remain. enoque marubo (all marubo people use the same surname), a leader of the tribe, is a leading advocate for internet access. still, he noted the internet was initially “detrimental,” specifically to the tribe’s hunting and fishing regimen. with so much to peruse online, no one wanted to do the work, he said. for this reason, enoque and other leaders agreed to implement limits to internet access. the internet is only on for two hours in the morning, five hours in the evening and on sundays. alfredo marubo, the leader of a marubo association of villages, told the nyt he’s especially unsettled by the newfound prevalence of pornography among the tribe’s young men. though the tribe’s traditional culture frowns on public romantic affections like kissing, alfredo said many boys have been sharing sexually explicit videos in group chats. even video games, namely first person shooters, have become an issue among the tribe, with some elders worrying they will inspire copycat violence. the issue of internet access has triggered bitter disputes among marubo political leaders, with arguments both for and against its usage. prior to the installation of starlink antennas in the region, many marubo already had cellphones. the phones were used to communicate when in the city or to take photographs. a post shared by victor moriyama (@victormoriyama) of course, these tribes having internet access isn’t entirely a bad thing. with starlink, the marubo people can stay better connected to other nearby villages, alert one another of potential dangers and discover new job and education opportunities. many of the young marubo tribe members now dream of travelling the world or establishing careers in cities beyond the rainforest. enoque told the nyt one of the biggest benefits of the internet is during emergencies. should a member of the tribe be bitten by a venomous snake, they can now call a helicopter for an airlift to the hospital, rather than relaying numerous radio messages. the internet has given the marubo people autonomy, and according to enoque, has “already saved lives.” marubo leaders have no plans to get rid of the internet in their communities. the marubo people live in the upper amazon basin, along the ituí river in brazil. they are a 2,000 member tribe, and not entirely isolated prior to the implementation of starlink. they were first contacted by rubber tappers in the 19th century. starlink has made it possible for people around the world to access the internet in regions where it was previously impossible. this includes the sahara, the mongolian grasslands and use by soldiers in ukraine at the frontlines of the war with russia. even rural areas in canada have benefitted from starlink, namely regions where land based internet infrastructure is not yet possible or covered by approved broadband funding programs. in may, musk said starlink reached over 3 million customers in 99 different countries. congratulations to the @spacex team on passing 3 million customers in 99 countries! and thanks to you for buying @starlink!   elon musk (@elonmusk) may 20, 2024 the email you need for the day’s top news stories from canada and around the world. the email you need for the day’s top news stories from canada and around the world.

to view this video please enable javascript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports html5 video up next for the last eight months, a remote brazilian tribe has been getting high speed internet for the first time. the marubo people live in one of the most isolated spots on the planet and although they have contact with the outside world, the tribe has preserved a traditional way of life for centuries. they sleep in communal huts along the ituí river, hunt and grow their own food, talk their own language and until recently have not had access to the internet. but elon musk’s satellite internet service, starlink, which he launched in brazil in 2022, has changed this. it reached the 2,000 strong marubo community nine months ago, after several tribesmen walked for days through the thick rainforest, each with two antennas on their backs. recently, the new york times paid a visit to find out what kind of impact the internet has had on the tribe. when they arrived the team spotted teenagers scrolling instagram, a man texting his girlfriend and a group of men crowded around a phone streaming a football match. it’s a familiar scene around the world   but not deep in the amazon rainforest. asked if the change has been a positive one, villager tsainama marubo, 73, said: ‘when it arrived, everyone was happy. but now, things have gotten worse. ‘young people have gotten lazy because of the internet,’ she explained. ‘they’re learning the ways of the white people.’ many of the tribespeople did speak of the benefits the internet has brought, including the ability to chat with loved ones living far away, educational opportunities and the possibility of sharing their way of life with others. it’s also saved lives. before starlink, when there was an emergency the marubo used amateur radio to send a message via several villages, which would eventually reach authorities. now if someone has been bitten by a snake, for example, a quick call on a mobile can mean a speedy helicopter rescue. but many marubo people acknowledge the internet has brought with it a fair share of problems. marubo leader, enoque marubo (all marubo use the same surname), 40, who was instrumental in bringing starlink to his people, said a big issue in the early days was people not hunting and growing food because they were stuck on their phone. he said: ‘in the village, if you don’t hunt, fish and plant, you don’t eat.’ this was to some extent solved by ensuring the internet is now only switched on for two hours in the morning, five hours in the evening and all day sunday. but other issues have been more difficult to tackle, such as scams, violent video games, graphic pornography, addictive social media scrolling, abusive online strangers and gossiping group chats. it’s stuff many of us have been dealing with for years, but for most of the world it’s been a relatively gradual change, whereas for the marubo people and other amazon tribes who have recently received high speed internet it’s all come at once. alfredo marubo, leader of a marubo association of villages, said pornography   especially videos of graphic sex   was a particular worry. some leaders had told him they’d already observed more aggressive sexual behaviour from young men. despite the problems, however, most tribespeople who spoke to the new york times had no wish for the internet to be taken away from them. ‘i think the internet will bring us much more benefit than harm,’ enoque said, ‘at least for now.’ get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. for more stories like this, check our news page. arrow more: elon musk asks twitch streamers to move to twitter   they say no arrow more: city streets overrun by flesh eating piranhas after heavy flooding arrow more: dj escaped carjacking by armed gang after driver reversed through motorway traffic never miss the biggest stories with breaking news alerts in your inbox. this site is protected by recaptcha and the google privacy policy and terms of service apply. your information will be used in line with our privacy policy never miss the biggest stories with breaking news alerts in your inbox. this site is protected by recaptcha and the google privacy policy and terms of service apply. your information will be used in line with our privacy policy

slashdot is powered by your submissions, so send in your scoop nickname: password: nickname: password: the fine print: the following comments are owned by whoever posted them. we are not responsible for them in any way. now substitute yourself for "amazonian" and we're done here. not quite. from tfs: modern society has dealt with these issues over decades as the internet continued its relentless march. the marubo and other indigenous tribes, who have resisted modernity for generations, are now confronting the internet's potential and peril all at once, while debating what it will mean for their identity and culture. not only did we get to adjust to the internet and the web gradually over the course of 3 decades, the 'net and the web are from and of our own culture. the marubo people, on the other had, have been subjected to the end result of that 30 years of internet development in the space of less than one year. and the culture being portrayed / purveyed is almost totally alien to them. it's the cultural equivalent of introducing a large dose of a new disease to a distant tribe of people whose immune systems are entirely naive to it or anything like it. our own society is struggling with internet addiction   imagine how much worse it is for the marubo. a large amount of our (western) society didn't adjust over 3 decades, and i am not talking only about children, look how elderly people use social media... their first contact with the internet was some 3 years ago when they had to replace an old phone with a new smart device. this is an interesting test of the prime directive. i hope that it works out well for them in the long run. "our historians remain amazed at how, within two hundred years of introducing a stone age culture to worldwide communications, the conquered the planet and quickly defeated the klingon empire." no, not that   the amazon prime directive(tm)... > not only did we get to adjust to the internet and the web gradually over the course of 3 decades no, we didnt adjust. what happened to the tribe is the same as what has happened to us. they got here in 9 months, we took a few decades. both us and they are on much the same page and we get to see the affects first hand because they were outside of it all and we are blind to it as we are so entrenched. we cant see the wood for the trees, but through their experience we can. i dont think it will help us both us and they are on much the same page and we get to see the affects first hand because they were outside of it all and we are blind to it as we are so entrenched. we cant see the wood for the trees, but through their experience we can. good point   i hope the cultural anthropologists and the psychologists are paying close attention. sadly, i suspect they aren't. you know who else is subjected to the "end result" without prior input or experience? children. you know who else is subjected to the "end result" without prior input or experience? children. doh! you're absolutely right. and i suppose our kids are, in one way, worse off than the marubo. at least the marubo and their kids have a sharply contrasting culture to fall back on. it'll be okay, you can mute your instagram push notifications now. yeah, it is everyone, but worse for some. in australia, this can be an especially serious problem with aboriginal communities.and also crime. https://www.abc.net.au/news/20... [abc.net.au] https://www.abc.net.au/news/20... [abc.net.au] yet we all truck on. "destroying" is sometimes the grumpy old man's term for "changing". so far it seems they decided to time limit the internet. that's probably the best of the really simple solutions. so far it seems they decided to time limit the internet. that's probably the best of the really simple solutions. also no computers in private areas, just in public areas during times when others are around. ie anyone passing by can give you a glance and see what you are working on. sounds like they're conservatives. because they're addicted to internet porn? i wonder how many progressives will look down on them. none, obviously. the marubo people's culture and traditions are valuable and important to preserve. progressives are not against preserving culture and tradition. what you don't seem to understand is that it is possible to preserve culture and tradition while leaving the shitty parts in the past. that's what progress is all about: becoming a better society. exactly! it's a statement that brooks no argument but offers zero supporting argument. no culture is irreplacebly precious. they're mostly just average to terrible garbage with some outlying highlights. all cultures are valuable because the experiences of all people are valuable. this isn't complicated. why do you think that the marubo culture is worthless? so you mean that progressives have a "do as i say, not as i do" mentality? because none of what you said seems to be what progressives are about. they've eroded culture more than anyone. every action they take tries to make people from all cultures think and talk the same. and as people have pointed out, i doubt you know anything about the marubo people's culture. your statement is pretty much cookie cutter while not actually saying anything that answers the question. because none of what you said seems to be what progressives are about. that's because you don't know anything about progressives. you're right. i'm only able to gauge them by their actions, often times it's the complete opposite of what they're screaming. i'm not sure what else i can do. but hey, judging people by their actions doesn't seem to be a trait of progressives either. so yeah, what do i know. you're right. almost always. i'm only able to gauge them by their actions, of which you clearly have no understanding. what a joke. there's nothing "conservative" about wanting to preserve cultures and nothing "progressive" about unifying cultures. i am extremely progressive but view diversity in cultures as a strength. musk is a right winger and views cultures as a threat to his profits. the funny part is that you described the progressive process of destroying cultures. no culture can survive being constantly forced to surrender to all other cultures. but as a cult member, you don't see the actual negative outcomes of your cult activities. all you see about cult's dogma of the utopia where everyone is equal and gets to live together in a wonderfully equal society. you are not able of thinking from first principles, where you would be forced to ask a question that progressive thought leaders but as a cult member, you don't see the actual negative outcomes of your cult activities. a huh. the other people are a cult. even though you're the one acting like a brainwashed moron. and then you display all your cult like behaviour to show us. good example. p.s. musk has nothing to do with this beyond being at the helm of the company providing the service to the brazilian government. they're getting stalink terminals from a brazil government program to connect remote tribes to the internet. there's nothing "conservative" about wanting to preserve cultures that is exactly what conservatism is about. conservation. don't confuse conservatism with specific policies or political positions. words like "right" and "republican" often get equated with conservatism, but those are different words with different meanings. conservatism is simply: a resistance to change. > the question is if shunning technology is in their children's best interest, or the elder's best interest? the tribes best interest, as those kids need to learn to do the stuff needed to survive in a isolated place like that and one of the problems is they young'uns are not interested in doing that stuff now, so they will eventually grow and hunt less and starve. except that of course they are in fact face painted tribesmen. not going into progressive bigoted ignorance tropes like "unga bunga" and "spear throwing". that's your thing. you'd know this if you read the original story. these are recently contacted tribes/primitive lifestyle maintaining tribes that still live that lifestyle. as in there are actual photographs. from the story: "she was kneading jenipapo berries to make a black body paint and wearing ropes of jewelry made from snail shells." and here's an imag i love it when i set a trap to detect dishonest argument, and dishonest arguer jumps into it head first. so my statement is: >these are recently contacted tribes/primitive lifestyle maintaining tribes that still live that lifestyle. this is self evidently the latter of the two. but you're not an honest participant, so you pretend that latter half doesn't exist and post this drivel as a counter argument: >yeah, not quite the "recently" contacted tribe youre making them out to be. 19th century first contac it would be interesting to see video tutorials of what it takes to survive in their environment and to record and learn more about their way of life directly from them. had they been aware of other communities and deliberately avoided them in the past ? before they were contacted what did they think when they saw manmade objects (eg. airplanes) ? it's not reasonable to keep these people as if they were museum exhibits, they and we need to find ways to make their lives better. imagine if we were contacted by i'm reminded of a video i saw hosted by simon whistler, a host of a handful of very interesting youtube channels. in one video he presented a tribe still living a hunter gatherer lifestyle. this wasn't entirely true since the people shown were wearing modern "western" clothing like tank tops, cargo shorts, and various styles of sandals. i don't recall the details but they don't much matter to me. the tribe was described as living a life of living off the land, moving from place to place in a kind of circl it's time they get modern medicine and potato chips. ...you will eat the beef. and you will drink the kool aid. time to move, we need to cut down your rainforest to grow the beef. "it's time they get modern medicine and potato chip" not to mention missing out on goatse.cx. i think a lot of people are of the opinion that we've lost things along the way and it's not that those things are better than what we gained but it's that there were very real trade offs we made none the less. the natural human inclination towards tribalism for instance, now all of a sudden these people are being thrust into a world of billions while only just before they lived in a "world" of hundreds. what does that do to a culture? there's likely real loss happening here that we will only really understa sure. ok. but the truth is far less nuanced cultures adapt or die. it's been happening since we were flinging poo at each other and will continue to do so long past our collective death romantizing this shiat is a mental impairment of some sort. if there is something of value in the culture it will persist. otherwise we can wave a cheery goodbye and not care one jot further "it's my culture" is pretty much the bleating of a terrible idea in its death throws   be it the ritualistic mutilation of kids genitalia, > my view is that it is sad to leave these people in ignorance of what the world offers, and that the sun and moon are not gods. would people exposed to modern conveniences of flush toilets, modern medicine, and more allow their children to be raised like this tribe raises their children? i doubt it. they'd give their children a telescope or binoculars to see the moon for what it is, show them video of humans walking on its surface, and tell them of how it's made of rock and in orbit around planet earth. at least elon hasn't given them cybertrucks. so much more useful to go all preditor style hunting in the jungle. tide has turned. decades ago violent games were so unrealistic that only an idiot would think it was violence. now, you are actually making bad choices and actions towards characters that look and act just like actual humans. this isnt the 80s mate, where you play as a 2d sprite punching a bouncing alien enemy on a c64, nor is it the 90's where you play better detailed 2d sprites that punch each other with red pixels suggesting blood. nor is it the eraly 00's where you have a low polygon count 3d figurine a  it does all of the same things that an addicting drug does. why should it matter how it's consumed? that has such people in it! i've been saying for a while now that human brains are clearly unable to handle something like the internet, well, constant access to it at least. i'm one of the internet generation, those who started life without it and then grew up during the 90's as it entered first the schools and then the home. my younger cousins i call the "social media" generation as they always had the internet from year dot almost and saw social media take off during their teen years. having lived this transition, i see the boundary irc is not social media, no. just like slashdot is not social media, or a newspaper. social media involves sharing media amongst groups of people, not simply chatting. you could suggest that blogs are a form of social media, the blog text being the media. social networks build upon that with great overlap. irc is instant messaging and predates social media. if you only look at the "social" aspect of it that is the aspect of having multiple people read you posts, or the nnewspaper, then some could consider the is it true that libraries are having those problems? i keep going to my local library for a couple of services they provide, and there are always people there. both doing book reading and using computers. don't forget looking at porn! not really a thing here in finland. people mostly look at porn at home as far as i know. at least i don't think i've ever seen anyone looking at porn in public, and if someone in my unusually large circle of acquaintances did, rumor mill would let me know pretty quick. i should have mentioned i'm in the uk, i think us libraries are doing better and have no clue about other countries. here in the uk libraries are funded by council tax. councils are required by law to provide libraries and the monthly council tax bill fund them, although they might be able to seek additional funding streams too. small towns and villages have seen many things close in recent years. banks have been closing branches left and right, simply because "everyone" uses the app. this creates issues f oh, i'm sure small towns and villages are suffering across the west. not so much because of tax or whatnot, but because of demographic realities. i live in the second largest metro area of my nation. that's a population growth area, so there's actual people, including young people to use the services. > including young people to use the services. interesting. i cant see that happening here. besides access to school text books libraries have mostly been seen as a way to entertain the kids and support their reading capabilities outsode of school. as a way to provide access to the internet for poor people who have no home access, as well as the aged who can also use training services. well, when they have staff members that is. yeah my town isnt a city like london, york or manchester but it is the county oh, however, the british library will always remain open as it has a copy of every book ever published in the uk and always gets a copy of every book ever published. that is truly a place for archive research, most people will never visit it however. i'd like to but unless i'm taking a university course again i'll struggle to think of what to try and look up! it could also be because i live near a lot of schools. young people looking for reference material is common. but there are also several major retirement homes nearby, and a lot of elderly reading news papers in the reading room is also a norm when i went in last time. but broadband internet is monthly, use it or not, you pay too much either way and so you have zero excuses not to use it and so you sit there, doom scrolling and allowing your kids brains to develop in abnormal ways. we have only had this tech and usage pattern for the last 15 or so years, 20 at a push. before that, for all of human history, we lived differently, learnt differently, thought differently, socialised differently... 20 years vs all that time is nothing and now with seeing what happened to an isolated tribe after only 9 months (remember it will get way worse for them) that must be some kind of warning about what and how we go about using the internet and if we should allow certain types of monetisation of the human mind. you'd think we'd take the warning, right? then again, the "sexual revolution" is really only 30 40 years older than the internet. just now approaching the span of one average life, really. there are no shortage of obviously bad outcomes from that, and we haven't learned anything, as a society. we engage in these massive society wide experiments, and then we ignore the data. i keep saying the humans in avatar went about things the wrong way. rather, set up hot dog stands to sell coke and t shirts and wait for the "yoots" to come to you. normally, cars, basic medical care like penecillin would be useful enticements as well, but you know, magical flying beasts and a local gaia to keep you top notch healthy. the story wishes into existence wonderful things only advanced society can provide in reality. how convenient. ... is that at least some people seem to care ... as long as the victims are exotic tribespeople. plain old your kids, on the other hand, whatevs. you are a weirdo troglodyte if you try to limit their internet access in any way. a civilization discovers social media, and collapses. there may be more comments in this discussion. without javascript enabled, you might want to turn on classic discussion system in your preferences instead. internet addiction alters brain chemistry in young people, study finds solar passes 100% of power demand in california "it says he made us all to be just like him. so if we're dumb, then god is dumb, and maybe even a little ugly on the side."    frank zappa

new video loaded: how internet access is transforming life in this amazon tribe 0:37 0:31 1:19 2:15 2:17 0:12 1:53 1:47 0:56 0:35 0:45 0:32

supported by tras un torrente de críticas, tmz retiró la foto de un cadáver sin dar explicaciones. by benjamin mullin after a torrent of criticism, tmz removed the image of a body without explanation. by benjamin mullin unsubstantiated rumors that the star would appear at the democratic national convention, perhaps alongside taylor swift, created a daylong frenzy. then the headliner took control. by salamishah tillet the abc anchor, in a surreptitious recording, said, “i don’t think he can serve four more years.” by michael m. grynbaum un reportaje del times sobre la llegada de internet de alta velocidad al pueblo indígena marubo se convirtió en un ejemplo real sobre la desinformación y otros peligros de la red. by jack nicas uma reportagem do new york times sobre a chegada da internet de alta velocidade em uma aldeia remota da amazônia acabou trazendo um alerta sobre o lado sombrio da própria web. by jack nicas a times story about the arrival of high speed internet in a remote amazon tribe spiraled into its own cautionary tale on the dark side of the web. by jack nicas getty images encontró una foto de la reina isabel ii con sus 10 nietos que catalina habría tomado en septiembre de 2022. la imagen también muestra evidencia de manipulación. by mark landler getty images said a photo taken by catherine, princess of wales, of queen elizabeth ii had been “digitally enhanced,” adding to scrutiny over royal communications with the public. by mark landler when famous people divorce, it’s not just an unraveling relationship. it’s a public relations dance. even when it’s “amicable.” by melina delkic
supported by a times story about the arrival of high speed internet in a remote amazon tribe spiraled into its own cautionary tale on the dark side of the web. by jack nicas jack nicas wrote the original story on the marubo people’s internet connection. in april, i hiked more than 50 miles through the amazon rainforest to visit the remote villages of the marubo people. the 2,000 member tribe had recently received high speed internet, and i wanted to understand how it had affected their lives. during a weeklong visit, i saw how they used the internet to communicate between villages, chat with faraway loved ones and call for help in emergencies. many marubo also told me they were deeply concerned that the connection with the outside world would upend their culture, which they had preserved for generations by living deep in the forest. some elders complained of teenagers glued to phones, group chats full of gossip and minors who watched pornography. as a result, the story we published june 2 was in part about the marubo people’s introduction to the ills of the internet. but after publication, that angle took on a whole different dimension. over the past week, more than 100 websites around the world have published headlines that falsely claim the marubo have become addicted to porn. alongside those headlines, the sites published images of the marubo people in their villages. the new york post was among the first, saying last week that the marubo people was “hooked on porn.” dozens quickly followed that take. tmz’s headline was perhaps the most blunt: “tribe’s starlink hookup results in porn addiction!!!”

there’s a remarkable story in the new york times this week. remote indigenous villages in the amazon have recently been connected to the internet, thanks to new starlink satellites. the marubo people have long lived in communal huts along the ituí river. their communities are spread hundreds of miles apart, and some can take a week to reach. they have not lived in complete isolation; the story describes villagers who own cellphones for taking pictures or communicating when they visit cities. some have lived outside the amazon, even holding corporate jobs before choosing to return to the forest. the tribes requested starlink, petitioning congress and eventually connecting with a private american donor to fund the installation. not surprisingly, the arrival of the internet 9 months ago has had a profound effect.