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During a weeklong visit, I saw how they used the internet to communicate between villages, chat with faraway loved ones and call for help in emergencies. Many Marubo also told me they were deeply concerned that the connection with the outside world would upend their culture, which they had preserved for generations by living deep in the forest. Some elders complained of teenagers glued to phones, group chats full of gossip and minors who watched pornography.

Over the past week, more than 100 websites around the world have published headlines that falsely claim the Marubo have become addicted to porn. Alongside those headlines, the sites published images of the Marubo people in their villages.

The New York Post was among the first, saying last week that the Marubo people was “hooked on porn.” Dozens quickly followed that take. TMZ’s headline was perhaps the most blunt: “TRIBE’S STARLINK HOOKUP RESULTS IN PORN ADDICTION!!!”

The Post and TMZ did not respond to requests for comment.

Similar headlines proliferated across the world, including in the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Turkey, Nigeria, Mexico and Chile. RT, Russia’s state media outlet, published the claim in Arabic. There were countless videos, memes and social media posts.

In Brazil, the rumor spread fast, including in the small Amazonian cities where some Marubo now live, work and study.

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    From the very beginning I said this was typical “backward savages can’t handle our modern world” bigoted bullshit that has been a staple of both news and fiction for literally centuries.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        They are, which is why they’re not all addicted to porn despite what people might tell you about those backward savages and their unquenchable sexual appetites.

        • partial_accumen@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          Err, I’d argue that lots of the rest of us have “unquenchable sexual appetites” and in that way it would be completely normal for a number of them too as well.

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            The whole “porn addiction” thing was just the latest entry in centuries of “the hot-blooded natives are sex-obsessed” bigotry about anyone who has the temerity to not adhere to a Western, Christian way of life. There’s a reason this was most widely-reported on in Conservative outlets.

            • partial_accumen@lemmy.world
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              5 months ago

              You’re underscoring the reality we now know. I’m not disputing that. I’m saying the whitewashed view that a good chunk of America isn’t also “hot blooded” and “sex obsessed” is the implied lie from the christian community.

  • numberfour002@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    This sounds like propaganda spread by a remote Amazon tribe that got addicted to porn would use to convince the sheeple who read news media that a remote Amazon tribe did not get addicted to porn even though they totally did not that there’s anything wrong with that. Can I get an amen?

  • cm0002@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    I called it lol, just a bunch of elders echoing what other “western” elders have been complaining about for a hundred years, and then questionable news orgs running with it LMAO

    • disguy_ovahea@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      When the article was posted in news, I cross-referenced it, and every source came back with mixed or low credibility in factual reporting. The post was taken down shortly after. I’m guessing it’s still all over Facebook though.

    • otp@sh.itjust.works
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      5 months ago

      That sounds legit.

      … wait. So that means that what you said must not be true!!

      Tap for spoiler

      /s

            • QuadratureSurfer@lemmy.world
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              5 months ago

              Some Lemmy applications don’t display it well (like Boost).

              It works fine through a browser or Voyager.

              Edit:typo

              • KnightontheSun@lemmy.world
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                5 months ago

                I was being sarcastic, Mr Surfer. I wrestled with whether I should include the “/s” tag since I was making a joke about the spoiler tag being the indication of sarcasm. I chose neither and here we are. Hi! ;)

                • QuadratureSurfer@lemmy.world
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                  5 months ago

                  Hi! Yeah, probably a timing thing. I used a spoiler tag yesterday and a user mentioned that it didn’t work for them. Turns out it’s a known issue for Boost users, so that was fresh on my mind.

  • SomeGuy69@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    I never believed it because progress wouldn’t be that fast and someone certainly would’ve started to blame a company or organization for delivering all the hardware and installing the infrastructure. Which then would be illogical because how would tribal people pay for this? I think even in the poorest countries of the world, internet doesn’t magically drop out of the sky for no money.

  • I Cast Fist@programming.dev
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    5 months ago

    Some elders complained of teenagers glued to phones, group chats full of gossip and minors who watched pornography.

    So, exactly like every other society connected to the internet

    In Brazil, the rumor spread fast

    I’m so out of the loop of local gossip that I’m only aware of this now. I guess this is a good thing

  • lemmeout@lemm.ee
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    5 months ago

    Luckily, I just read comments from fellow lemmings. Thanks to them, I knew the headlines were a blatant lie.

  • Potatos_are_not_friends@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    The New York Post was among the first, saying last week that the Marubo people was “hooked on porn.” Dozens quickly followed that take. TMZ’s headline was perhaps the most blunt: “TRIBE’S STARLINK HOOKUP RESULTS IN PORN ADDICTION!!!”

    The Post and TMZ did not respond to requests for comment.

    Yeah because both sites are super shitty sites and aren’t interested in news, but getting clicks with outage porn.

    God I wish there was a mass Lemmy feature to flag shitty websites.