A secluded tribe in the Amazon rainforest is apparently grappling with the effects of high-speed internet since Elon Musk’s Starlink gave them access to the World Wide Web.
The Marubo people, who live along the Ituí River, got access to the internet in September 2023, and it has brought significant changes to their community, the New York Times reported on Sunday.
Seventy-three-year-old Tsainama Marubo said at first everyone was happy about the arrival of the internet because it meant her neighbors could talk to loved ones who live far away and have access to help when they experienced an emergency.
However, the situation has reportedly deteriorated, she explained, adding that the young people have grown lazy. But she also emphasized she did not want the internet taken away from the tribe.
The Times article continued:
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.
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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.
The Addiction Center defines social media addiction as “being overly concerned about social media, driven by an uncontrollable urge to log on to or use social media, and devoting so much time and effort to social media that it impairs other important life areas.”
The center also said addiction to social media can resemble substance use disorder and might result in mood modification, salience (i.e., behavioral, cognitive, and emotional preoccupation with social media), tolerance, withdrawal symptoms, conflict, and relapse.
A 2016 study found the more time young adults spent on social media the more likely they were to end up depressed, according to Breitbart News.
Musk launched Starlink on Indonesia’s island of Bali in May, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
“Indonesia, a vast archipelago of 17,000 islands sprawled across three time zones with a population of more than 270 million, has been trying for years to secure deals with Musk’s Tesla on battery investment and for Musk’s SpaceX to provide fast internet for the country’s remote regions,” the article said.
