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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.

    • 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.

                  • dysprosium@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                    5 months ago

                    I’m on boost so perhaps im not seeing something, but what does “/s” to do with a spoiler tag? Aren’t they two completely different things? If you’re being sarcastic, you just put /s, right? That’s what I’ve always done…