An indigenous group from Brazil’s Amazon has filed a defamation suit against The New York Times over a report in which they labelled them as porn addicts. The Marubo tribe is now seeking $180 million (approx. Rs 1,500 crore) in damages.
The Amazonian tribe of the remote Javari valley sued the American daily for falsely portraying them as being addicted to technology and pornography after gaining access to the internet, The Guardian reported.
The lawsuit says the NY Times made the Marubo tribe, a community of 2,000 people, look like they couldn’t handle the internet. The newspaper has also been accused of spreading false information about young people from the tribe being obsessed with pornography, reported BBC.
The lawsuit states, “Such portrayals go far beyond cultural commentary; they directly attack the character, morality, and social standing of an entire people, suggesting they lack the discipline or values to function in the modern world.”
The tribe has also named TMZ and Yahoo, alleging their coverage mocked the tribe’s youth and misrepresented their cultural traditions. It stated these stories have damaged their reputation.
The NY Times report, covered by Nicas, mentioned that nine months after the Marubo tribe got internet through Starlink, its teenagers were spending too much time on phones, playing violent video games, using social media, scams, misinformation and minors watching pornography.
The report also said that a tribal leader was particularly disturbed by the pornography and had heard of more violent sexual behaviour from young men.
While the original story mentioned pornography as one of the factors, other news websites such as TMZ amplified it with the title, “Elon Musk’s Starlink Hookup Leaves A Remote Tribe Addicted To Porn.”
The lawsuit says their video inaccurately showed the Marubo tribe as if they had lost their morals because of the internet.
According to the BBC, over 100 websites worldwide published headlines making misleading claims that Marubo developed a porn addiction.
The lawsuit, obtained by The Guardian, states, “The fallout from the publication was not limited to public perception, it destroyed lives, institutions, and culturally significant projects.”
A week after the original story, The NY Times also ran a follow-up story with the headline, “No, A Remote Amazon Tribe Did Not Get Addicted to Porn.”