The Marubo, a 2,000-member tribe in the Brazilian Amazon, recently made headlines: they received Starlink in September 2023. Within 9 months, their youth stopped learning traditional body paint and jewelry making, young men began sharing pornographic videos in group chats (in a culture that frowns on public kissing), leaders observed “more aggressive sexual behavior,” and children became addicted to short-form video content. One leader reported: “Everyone is so connected that sometimes they don’t even talk to their own family.”
Note that the tribe in question is suing the New York Times over that article, and indeed the New York Times issued a retraction (or, well, as close as they can come to a retraction, as the original article never actually claimed any members of the tribe were “addicted to porn” only that some minors watched it).
This obviously doesn’t show the original reporting is garbage, but it does seem pretty important to note here.
Note that the tribe in question is suing the New York Times over that article, and indeed the New York Times issued a retraction (or, well, as close as they can come to a retraction, as the original article never actually claimed any members of the tribe were “addicted to porn” only that some minors watched it).
This obviously doesn’t show the original reporting is garbage, but it does seem pretty important to note here.