Remote Brazilian tribe are given the internet… and are now viewing graphic porn, falling for online scams and hooked on social media

Leaders of a remote tribe in the Amazon rainforest have told how the advent of the internet has left its members struggling with the trappings of social media and pornography addiction as they fall for online scams.

The Marubo people, who lived in small huts scattered along the Itui River for hundreds of years BrazilThanks to this, we were introduced to fast internet for the first time last year Elon Musk‘s Starlink satellite program.

The 2,000-member community quickly discovered the incredible benefits the new technology had to offer.

Tribal members could suddenly call for help in an emergency, with medical helicopters reaching the injured in hours instead of days. They could also make direct contact with relatives or friends camped tens of miles up the river, or even further away.

But shortly after the Marubo people were introduced to the joys of the Internet, the dangers quickly began to reveal themselves.

Now, indigenous tribal leaders are reporting that people are getting lazy and spending hours scrolling social media with teenagers addicted to graphic porn.

Members of the Marubo tribe install a satellite dish to receive a Starlink connection

Indigenous tribal leaders report that people are becoming lazy and spending hours scrolling social media with teenagers addicted to graphic porn

Satellite equipment is pictured outside the hut of a Marubo settlement

The 2,000-member community quickly discovered the incredible benefits the new technology had to offer, but also the dangers

The Marubo people, who have lived in small huts scattered along Brazil’s Itui River for hundreds of years, were introduced to high-speed internet for the first time last year thanks to Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite program.

Enoque Marubo, 40, told reporters at the New York Times the internet had transformed the once simple and technologically resistant way of life that his people had observed for centuries.

“It changed the routine so much that it was harmful,” Enoque admitted. “If you don’t hunt, fish and plant in the village, you don’t eat,” he said.

Meanwhile, Alfredo Marubo – all members of the tribe have the same surname – said the sudden exposure to pornography had caused a worrying increase in overt sexual behavior in a culture where kissing in public is seen as shocking.

He said young men were sharing explicit videos in group chats, adding that some prominent figures in the tribe had reported seeing more aggressive sexual behavior from young men.

Alfredo also warned that members of the tribe, despite being more connected than ever before, had withdrawn from face-to-face social contact and were no longer speaking to their own families.

TamaSay Marubo, the first woman to take on a leadership role in the tribe, said that while social media had opened young tribesmen’s eyes to the world, it had also caused them to abandon their responsibilities and spend hours on their smartphones .

Several members of the tribe said they were concerned that the group’s traditions would be lost, and also expressed concern that the tribe’s social fabric would be tainted by rumors circulating in group chats.

Others explained that some internet users had been victims of abuse by strangers on social media and had fallen prey to unspecified scams.

Tribal Elder Tsainama Marubo, 73, simply put.

“Things have gotten worse,” she said.

‘Young people have become lazy because of the internet. They learn the ways of white people.”

The remote Amazon tribe got internet for the first time last year

A tribe member builds a base for a satellite dish

A receiver is seen connected to a pedestal outside the cabins

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Tuesday, May 28, 2024. The rocket was carrying 23 Starlink satellites

Social media and porn addiction, online scams, misinformation and a decline in real-life social skills are all byproducts of the constant internet use that has long plagued the developed world.

But unlike those living in large urban centers – who were introduced to the internet and smartphones as technology steadily developed over time – the lives of the Marubo people changed immediately when they were confronted with the full possibilities of modern technology.

As such, leaders have turned to desperate measures in a desperate bid to limit the impact of the revolutionary new package.

Access to Starlink is controlled and time-restricted. Users can now surf the Internet for a total of seven hours a day – two hours in the morning and five hours in the afternoon – although leaders are allowing the community unrestricted access on Sundays.

This policy is seen as a temporary measure while the community adapts and figures out how to better integrate technology into everyday life.

But like the rest of the world, the Marubo people have no intention of returning to a life without the internet – even with all the negative consequences that entails.

“I think the Internet will bring us much more benefit than harm,” Enoque said.

‘The leaders have been clear. We can’t do without the internet.’