Remote Brazilian tribes get the internet… and now watch graphic porn, fall for online scams and are addicted to 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 along Brazil’s Itui River for hundreds of years, gained access to high-speed internet for the first time last year thanks to Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite program.

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

Tribal members could call for help in an emergency, with medical helicopters reaching the wounded in hours instead of days. They could also make direct contact with family members or friends camped dozens of miles up the river, or even farther away.

But shortly after the Marubo was introduced to the joys of the Internet, the dangers quickly became apparent.

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 test a satellite dish to receive a Starlink connection

Indigenous leaders report that people are becoming lazy and scrolling through social media for hours with teens addicted to graphic porn

Satellite equipment is pictured outside the hut of a Marubo settlement

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

The remote Amazon tribe got its first internet connection last year

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

Tribe members connect satellite dishes to receive a Starlink connection

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. “In the village, if you don’t hunt, fish and plant, 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 and some senior figures within the tribe reported seeing more aggressive sexual behavior from young men.

Alfredo also warned that despite being more connected than ever before, members of the tribe had withdrawn from personal social contact and stopped 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 feared the group’s traditions were being lost and that the tribe’s social structure was being contaminated by rumors circulating in group conversations.

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

Elder Tsainama Marubo, 73, simply put.

“It’s gotten worse,” she said.

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

A tribesman builds a pedestal to place a satellite dish

A receiver is seen connected to a pedestal outside the cabins

A tribe member holds a box of Starlink equipment

People unpack boxes of Starlink equipment

The internet has divided opinion about the Marubo tribe

Starlink, an initiative launched by Musk under his company SpaceX, owns about 60% of the approximately 7,500 satellites orbiting Earth and is the dominant player in the satellite internet space.

The technology was first made available in Brazil in 2022, but only reached the more remote areas of the Amazon, such as the banks of the Itui, where the Marubo people live, in April last year.

Enoque Marubo, who had ventured into cities and spent time outside the tribe, told the New York Times that he believed access to the Internet could help his people share their experiences and communicate more effectively with the outside world.

He was one of the key tribe members responsible for contacting outsiders and arranging the delivery of the Starlink system.

Enoque contacted Flora Dutra, a Brazilian activist who works with the charity Navi Global, which aims to help indigenous communities in the Amazon region access jobs, healthcare and other services, and engage them in projects that impact the rainforest and their environment.

The duo managed to contact American philanthropist Allyson Reneau, who reportedly donated 20 Starlink units and worked with Navi Global to oversee their delivery to the Marubo.

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 were instantly transformed when they were confronted with the full capabilities of modern technology overnight.

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

Boats carrying Starlink products are seen arriving at a Marubo settlement

Villagers and helpers begin assembling pedestals on which the Starlink satellite dishes will be placed

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

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

Access to Starlink is controlled and time-limited. Users can now surf the internet for a total of seven hours per day — two in the morning and five in the afternoon — although leaders do grant the community unlimited 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, Marubo people have no intention of going back to a life without the internet, even with all the negative consequences that entails.

“I think the Internet will bring us many more advantages than disadvantages,” Enoque said.

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

And despite her complaints, even Elder Tsainama Marubo said, “Please don’t take away our Internet.”