An isolated tribe in the Amazon rainforest is hitting back at The New York Times over an article in the newspaper detailing their people’s recent access to the internet—and alleged accusations that several members of the tribe have since developed pornography addictions.
The Marubo tribe, a remote community of approximately 2,000 people in Brazil’s Javari Valley, filed the defamation lawsuit in Los Angeles earlier this week seeking $180 million in damages.
According to the BBC, the lawsuit alleges that The Times’ 2024 report “portrayed the Marubo people as a community unable to handle basic exposure to the internet, highlighting allegations that their youth had become consumed by pornography.”
The story was published nine months after the tribe gained access to Elon Musk’s Starlink, and their lawsuit alleges that the Times’ article suggests that internet access led to “minors watching pornography.” One community leader referenced in the piece spoke of “more aggressive sexual behavior” apparent in young men.
After the piece was published, other outlets, including TMZ and Yahoo!, published their own versions of the story, which in many cases seemed to exaggerate the claims made in the Times’ original reporting. That prompted The Times to run a follow-up story titled “No, A Remote Amazon Tribe Did Not Get Addicted to Porn,” where Brazil Bureau Chief Jack Nicas—who penned the original story—wrote about how “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.” But it wasn’t enough.
The Marubo say that the original statements were “inflammatory” and conveyed that the tribe “had descended into moral and social decline as a direct result of internet access.”
A spokesperson for The Times, however, vows to “vigorously defend” its reporting, noting that: “Any fair reading of this piece shows a sensitive and nuanced exploration of the benefits and complications of new technology in a remote Indigenous village with a proud history and preserved culture.”
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