Photo: Tribal leader Ennokwe uploaded a video on Instagram on the 12th, accusing “fake news”. \Internet photo

Young people are addicted to the Internet and are unwilling to hunt and fish

However, the popularization of the Internet has brought another worrying consequence, which is the impact on the social culture of traditional Amazon communities, affecting the lifestyles, beliefs and customs of indigenous peoples. The New York Times reported that the Marubo people have only been exposed to Starlink for nine months, but they have already faced the thorny problems of contemporary society in the past two or three decades: teenagers never put down their mobile phones and are addicted to playing video games, people are addicted to social media, chat groups are full of gossip, encounter online fraud and online fake news, and minors watch pornography, etc.

Tribal elder Chanama said, “Young people have become lazy because of the Internet, and they are learning the white people’s way of life,” and no longer like traditional ways such as hunting and fishing. Other tribal elders said that seeing some minors sharing pornographic content in WhatsApp groups is particularly worrying because in the Marubo tribal culture, kissing in public is not even allowed.

In the border town of Atalaia du Norte, with just 21,000 residents, dozens flock to hotels with Starlink every day as demand for the internet grows, and balconies become gathering spots for teenagers who spend hours playing online games on their phones.

Fake news spreads wildly, tribal leader Ig refutes the rumor

However, after being widely reprinted by other media, the New York Times report on how Starlink affects the Amazon tribe became “Amazon tribes addicted to pornography because of Starlink”, making this primitive tribe famous overnight and a hot topic. On the 12th, Ennokwe, the leader of the Marubo tribe, uploaded a video on the social media Instagram, accusing such claims of being “groundless and untrue” and accusing the New York Times of disrespecting the autonomy and identity of the indigenous tribes. He also said: “Thanks to the Internet, we can immediately know these false news about our tribe.”

To this end, the New York Times published another follow-up report on June 11 titled “No, remote Amazon tribe is not addicted to porn”. The reporter who wrote the report emphasized that he actually visited the Marubo tribe twice and there was no obvious sign that “young people are addicted to porn”. The report only described the elders’ concerns about the impact of technology on traditional culture. Musk also shared the relevant news on the social platform X and denounced the New York Times’ report on the tribe as “disrespectful and unfriendly.”

Some commentators also pointed out that the New York Times report allowed the primitive tribes, “newcomers to the Internet,” to see for the first time the enormous power of fake news. Eliseo from the Marubo tribe said that because of this news, he received tens of thousands of comments on social networks. “The Internet has brought many advantages, but also many challenges.”