Amazon tribe processes the New York Times for defaming its members

A defamation lawsuit presented by the Marubo people claim that its members were portrayed as technology addicts and obsessed with pornography, after having the first contact with the internet.

An indigenous tribe of the Brazilian Amazon sued, claiming that the New York newspaper about the first exhibition of the internet tribe led its members to be exaggeratedly portrayed as Addicts in Technology and Pornography.

The action brought by Tribefrom the remote Valley of Javari, a community of about 2,000 people, was presented this week in a court of Los Angeles, and asks hundreds of millions of dollars of compensation.

The process also includes OEO as defendants, claiming that the coverage they gave to history amplified and sensationalized the report Times, defaming the tribe in the process.

“These statements not only were inflammatory as they transmitted to the common reader that the Marubo people had fallen into a moral and social decline As a direct result of internet access, ”says the lawsuit presented on Thursday, quoted by.

“Such representations go far beyond the cultural comment; directly attack character, morality and the social position of an entire peoplesuggesting that they lack discipline or values ​​to function in the modern world. ”

In a statement to the Associated Press, an NYT spokesman stated that “any fair reading of this article shows a sensitive exploration and with nuances of the benefits and complications of the new technology in a remote indigenous village with a proud history and preserved culture. ”

“We intend to defend ourselves vigorously Against the judicial process ”, ensures the spokesman for the New York newspaper.

According to the NYT report, less than a year after the introduction of the internet service, the community now faced the same kind of difficulties with the omnipresent effects of the internet and the proliferation of smartphones that much of the world has faced for years.

The text lists some of these challenges: “Adolescents glued to mobile phones, conversation groups full of gossip, addictive social networksviolent games, Bonds, misinformation, and minors to see pornography“.

The report adds that the tribe leader, ALFREDO MARUBOI was “disturbed by pornography. I said that Young people were sharing explicit videos in conversation groups, a surprising development for a culture that Disapprove Kisses in public“.

“We are concerned that young people want to try the acts they see in the videos,” adds Marubo, who says he has felt a increased sexual aggression Among young people since Starlink brought this “poisoned gift” that is the internet.

The article does not make any other mention of pornography, but this aspect of the story was amplified and aggregate by other mediaincluding TMZ, which published a story and video with the title “A Internet Starlink de Elon Musk Leaves a remote tribe addicted to pornography. ”

Wrong perceptions originated by the way TMZ and YAHOO propagated the history led the teams to publish a follow -up article, in which it is clarigified that “Marubo people are not addicted to pornography“.

“There was no evidence of this in the forest, and there was no suggestion of this in The New York Times article,” reads the text of the second article.

This did not satisfy the tribe, which states in the process that the story “did not recognize the role that NYT itself played in feeding the narrative defamatory. Instead of emitting a retraction or apology, The follow -up article minimized the emphasis of the original article in pornographytransferring the blame to third party aggregates. ”

According to the New York Times report, the tribe leaders believe that, despite everything, the internet “will bring much more benefits than lossesat least for now. ”And maybe A few hundred millions of dollars Help your people prosper.