

Billionaire Elon Musk’s StarLink delivers internet to remote locations.
In the dense Amazon rainforest, lives an indigenous, remote tribe that speaks its own language, and its culture has been preserved for thousands of years. However, a technological miracle has shattered its isolated existence – Elon Musk’s revolutionary Starlink satellite internet service.
Yet, with this new relationship comes a dilemma, one that resonates with the elders’ concerns and the clan’s evolving dynamics.
The New York Times Meet the Marobos, a 2,000-member tribe that was first connected to the world via the Internet. Billionaire Elon Musk’s StarLink provides internet to remote locations or areas where normal communications infrastructure has been disabled by low-Earth orbit satellites.
When these services were launched in Brazil in September last year, internet services penetrated the Amazon jungle.
“When it arrived, everyone was happy,” Tsaiyama Marubu, 73, told New York. The Internet brought obvious benefits, such as video chats with distant loved ones and calls for help in emergencies. “But now, things have become worse,” he said.
“Young people have become lazy because of the Internet,” he said. “They are learning the ways of the white people.” And added, “But please don’t take away our internet.”
The tribe now faces a fundamental dilemma – the use of the Internet and its impact on their culture.
Young people are now attached to their phones – they are chatting with friends, glued to screens, and accessing pornographic content and misinformation.
Speaking to the NYT, Alfredo Marubo, leader of a Marubo association in the village, has emerged as the tribe’s most vocal critic on the Internet. He said that he is most worried about pornography. Young people are sharing candid videos in group chats, a surprising development for a culture that refuses to kiss in public, he said. “We worry that young people will want to try it,” he said of the graphic sex shown in the videos. He said some leaders had told him they had already seen more aggressive sexual behavior from young people.
While some parents are happy that their children will not have an education, their concerns about the dangers of the Internet remain.
The antennae were donated to the tribe by American entrepreneur, Alison Reneau.
The advent of the Internet is also seen as a positive for remote tribes, who were able to quickly contact authorities for help in emergencies, including potentially fatal snakebites.
A member of the tribe said that a venomous snake bite may require immediate rescue by helicopter. Before the Internet, Marobo used amateur radio, which relayed messages between several villages to reach authorities. The Internet made such calls instantaneous. “It’s already saved lives,” he said.
Another member said that the Internet could give their people new autonomy. With it, they could better communicate, inform themselves, and tell their stories.