The Marubo are disputing claims that their moral values deteriorated after gaining access to Starlink internet.
A remote tribe in South America is suing the New York Times, TMZ, and Yahoo for defamation, alleging that the media outlets published stories claiming the indigenous group became addicted to pornography and other modern social issues after being connected to the internet, according to a report by Courthouse News Service (CNS).
The Marubo tribe inhabits approximately two dozen isolated villages in the westernmost region of Brazil’s Javari River Valley, with an estimated total population of around 2,000. In 2022, the tribe received twenty Starlink satellite internet antennas as donations, which improved communication between remote settlements and provided broader internet access.
In 2024, a reporter and photographer from the New York Times visited the Marubo and subsequently published an article describing teenagers as constantly using their phones and “minors watching pornography.” TMZ and other outlets, aggregated by Yahoo News, later published reports that repeated or reworded parts of the story, asserting that the tribe had become “addicted” to sexually explicit material.
The TMZ story, which featured footage of Dutra delivering Starlink devices to the Marubo, allegedly resulted in her receiving death threats and the failure of her startup, NAVI Global, which she co-founded and which was once valued at $3 million.
The New York Times journalist later released a follow-up article titled “No, a Remote Amazon Tribe Did Not Get Addicted to Porn.” The newspaper has since maintained that the original article never explicitly made such a statement.
According to CNS, the Marubo people and Dutra are seeking $180 million in damages, including $100 million in punitive damages.
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