Brazilian tribe sues for £133m over porn addiction claims

Media stories "mocked their youth" and "misrepresented their traditions"

Known as the Marúbo people, this 2,000-strong community was portrayed as addicted to porn by the world's media in light of a NYT report covering their access to Starlink, the super-fast internet service from SpaceX.

Per the BBC, the lawsuit claims the publication's story insinuated that the tribe was "unable to handle basic exposure to the internet" and highlights "allegations that their youth had become consumed by pornography", though the NYT denied any wrongdoing.

TMZ and Yahoo are both tangled up in the case too, as the tribe says their offshoot stories "mocked their youth" and "misrepresented their traditions".

The original report arrived nine months after the Marúbo first began using Starlink thanks to Elon Musk, and suggested its members were "already grappling with the same challenges that have racked American households for years", which included "teenagers glued to phones" and "minors watching pornography".

Apparently, the community leader was "most unsettled by the pornography" and had been told of "more aggressive sexual behaviour" from young men.

In response to the global sensationalism of its piece, the next week, NYT ran a secondary story titled: 'No, A Remote Amazon Tribe Did Not Get Addicted to Porn'.

The named plaintiffs, Enoque Marúbo and Brazilian activist Flora Dutra, accused the NYT report of fuelling "a global media storm" surrounding the tribe, subjecting them to "humiliation, harassment and irreparable harm to their reputations and safety".

A spokesperson for the New York Times said in a statement: "Any fair reading of this piece shows a sensitive and nuanced exploration of the benefits and complications of new technology in a remote Indigenous village with a proud history and preserved culture. We intend to vigorously defend against the lawsuit."

The Marúbo people live in the far west of Brazil, in the Vale do Javari Indigenous Territory, an area spreading 32,000 square miles.