"When it arrived, everyone was happy," said Tsainama Marubo, 73, […] "But now, things have gotten worse,"
Along the Ituí River deep in the Amazon, the Marubo people live, eat and work all in relative isolation. The Marubo language and culture are distinct, the people live, sleep and cook in communal huts. They take ayahuasca in ceremonies. They only started to wear clothes after meeting rubber tappers in the 19th century. Marubo life has been this way for hundreds of years, despite the long arm of modern lifestyle. The stretch of land they live on in the Amazon is one of the most geographically isolated in the world.
And then Starlink arrived, at the behest of a tribesman who saw the benefits of the internet- education, emergency help, family phone calls. A benefactor from Oklahoma arranged the Starlink hookup, and the tribe gained all the riches that the world wide web had to offer. But with riches comes gout.
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.
Alfredo Marubo, leader of a Marubo association of villages, has emerged as the tribe's most vocal critic of the internet. The Marubo pass down their history and culture orally, and he worries that knowledge will be lost. "Everyone is so connected that sometimes they don't even talk to their own family," he said.
He is most unsettled by the pornography. He said young men were sharing explicit videos in group chats, a stunning development for a culture that frowns on kissing in public. "We're worried young people are going to want to try it," he said of the graphic sex depicted in the videos. He said some leaders had told him they had already observed more aggressive sexual behavior from young men.
Jack Nicas, The New York Times
All this change has occured since September of 2023.
Previously:
• How Visa and MasterCard strong armed PornHub into making policy changes
• Pornhub on a refrigerator in Home Depot
• PayPal pauses payouts to PornHub porn models
