Amazon tribe sues New York Times over story it says led to porn addict claims
An Amazonian tribe has sued the New York Times (NYT) over a report about the community gaining access to high-speed internet, which it claims led to its members being labelled as porn addicts.
The defamation lawsuit said the US newspaper's report portrayed the Marubo tribe as "unable to handle basic exposure to the internet" and highlighted "allegations that their youth had become consumed by pornography".
The lawsuit also named TMZ and Yahoo as defendants, and said their news stories "mocked their youth" and "misrepresented their traditions".
The NYT said its report did not infer or say any of the tribe's members were addicted to porn. TMZ and Yahoo have been contacted for comment.
The Marubo, an Indigenous community of about 2,000 people, is seeking at least $180m (£133m) in damages.
The NYT's story, written nine months after the Marubo gained access to Starlink, a satellite-internet service from Elon Musk's SpaceX, said the tribe was "already grappling with the same challenges that have racked American households for years".
This included "teenagers glued to phones", "violent video games" and "minors watching pornography", the report said.
It stated that a community leader and vocal critic of the internet was "most unsettled by the pornography", and had been told of "more aggressive sexual behaviour" from young men.
The report also noted the perceived benefits of the internet among the tribe, including the ability to alert authorities to health issues and environmental destruction and stay in touch with faraway family.
The lawsuit claims other news outlets sensationalised the NYT's report, including a headline from TMZ referencing porn addiction.
The response led the NYT to run a follow-up report around a week after its original story, with the headline: "No, A Remote Amazon Tribe Did Not Get Addicted to Porn".
The report said "more than 100 websites around the world" had "published headlines that falsely claim the Marubo have become addicted to porn".
But the lawsuit claimed the NYT's original story had "portrayed the Marubo people as a community unable to handle basic exposure to the internet, highlighting allegations that their youth had become consumed by pornography".
The named plaintiffs, community leader Enoque Marubo and Brazillian activist Flora Dutra, who helped to distribute the 20 $15,000 Starlink antennas to the tribe, said the NYT story helped fuel "a global media storm", according to the Courthouse News Service.
This, they said, subjected them to "humiliation, harassment and irreparable harm to their reputations and safety".
The TMZ story included video footage of Marubo and Dutra distributing the antennas, which they said "created the unmistakable impression [they] had introduced harmful, sexually explicit material into the community and facilitated the alleged moral and social decay".
A spokesperson for the New York Times said: "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."
Musk's satellites 'blocking' view of the universe
Musk and Rubio spar with Polish minister over Starlink in Ukraine
India's Jio and Airtel ink deals to bring in Musk's Starlink
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
2 hours ago
- New York Post
Adam ‘Pacman' Jones' agent claims former NFL star's latest arrest is example of ‘overzealous policing'
The agent of former NFL cornerback Adam 'Pacman' Jones called into question the actions of Covington police for what he called 'another example of overzealous policing' in the arrest of his client over the weekend. Jones was arrested early Saturday morning and charged with alcohol intoxication in a public place, disorderly conduct and assault of a police officer. But Peter Schaffer, Jones' agent, claimed that the ex-NFL player had done 'nothing wrong' during his interaction with police and that his only transgression was to 'exercise his right to ask why he was being detained — a fundamental question that every citizen should be allowed to ask without fear of retaliation.' Advertisement Adam 'Pacman' Jones was arrested early June 8. Kenton County Jail 'Initially, officers claimed he was being arrested for assault and then shifted to public intoxication (which, in itself, is not a crime in many jurisdictions unless it leads to dangerous behavior), and finally settled on disorderly conduct — simply for asking why he was being detained,' Schaffer said in a statement, according to Pro Football Talk. 'This pattern of escalating and inconsistent charges is a clear abuse of authority and demonstrates a troubling trend of police officers prioritizing their own discretion over constitutional rights. 'Adam, like every American, is innocent until proven guilty. Yet, once again, his past is being weaponized against him in the court of public opinion, while the officers involved face no scrutiny for their conduct. The repeated mischaracterization of his encounters with law enforcement — often stemming from minor incidents — only reinforces the need for accountability in policing.' Advertisement A police news release stated that officers had been called to a bar around 1 a.m. on Saturday morning over a report of a 'disturbance involving a customer and an employee,' and when they arrived, they had been notified of a car attempting to leave the area. Officers stopped the car being driven by Jones and they stated that he had been consuming alcohol and that the charges 'related to his level of intoxication and his behavior.' Titans cornerback Adam 'Pacman' Jones is shown during football training camp in Clarksville, Tenn., in this Aug. 4, 2006 AP Advertisement 'Adam Jones is being held to the same standard of conduct as any other individual in our community,' police said in the release. Jones has had several encounters with law enforcement over the years, which have included an altercation at a hotel in Arlington, Texas, after the Jake Paul fight against Mike Tyson and an arrest at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport in 2023. Jones hasn't played in the NFL since 2018 and spent the majority of his career with the Bengals, along with stints with the Titans and Cowboys.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Former Alabama basketball player says New York Times should reveal source who falsely identified him in 2023 deadly shooting
ALABAMA (WHNT) — A former Alabama Basketball player believes the New York Times should have to reveal its source that falsely identified him at the scene of a deadly shooting in 2023. The Northern District of Alabama now has a decision to make. A federal judge says the Alabama Supreme Court has to decide if the Shield Statute applies to information published online by a corporation that publishes a newspaper. CLICK HERE for News 19's Interactive Radar 🌩️🌦️☔ Former UA basketball player Darius Miles and Michael Davis were charged with capital murder in a January 2023 shooting that led to the death of 23-year-old Jamea Harris. On May 9, Davis was found guilty of capital murder while Miles awaits his trial, which has yet to be set. On March 15, 2023, federal court documents say that The New York Times Company published an article on its website relating to this incident. The story itself garnered national interest because of the reported involvement of two Alabama basketball players, Miles and Brandon Miller. Miller was never charged in the incident. 'News reports citing police testimony of an unidentified passenger in Mr. Miller's car provided additional intrigue,' the document says. Billy Witz, a New York Times Reporter, published an article headlined 'A Fourth Alabama Player Was at a Deadly Shooting, in a Car Hit by Bullets.' In this article, the federal document says Witz identified UA Basketball player Kai Spears as the 'unidentified passenger' in the vehicle with Miller. At the bottom of the article, Witz reportedly attributed the information to a single, anonymous source. After the article was published and name-dropped Spears, the source told Witz that they were 'likely wrong' in identifying Spears as at the crime scene. 📲 to stay updated on the go. 📧 to have news sent to your inbox. In May 2023, Spears filed a lawsuit against The New York Times Company claiming the article was defamatory as well as false light invasion of privacy. Documents say the New York Times failed to use 'reasonable care in publishing and disseminating untrue statements about his presence at a crime scene and publicizing highly offensive false statements despite harboring serious doubts as to the reliability of its source and/or the source's information.' In the original lawsuit, Spears said on the night of the incident, Spears met up with two high school friends who went to Clemson University and were in town. The document said Spears lived in the athletes' dorm and his friends were going to sleep on the couch in the common area of the four-person suite. The night of the murder, Spears and his friends went out to eat, went back to the athletes' dorms and prepared to go out on the Strip, the retail and nightlife district directly off UA's campus, the lawsuit says. It also details a time frame of Spears and his friends movements from the evening of Jan. 14 to the morning of Jan. 15: JAN 14 – 11 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. – Spears and his friends bump into three other people who were going into Houndstooth Bar JAN 15 – 12:30 a.m. – Spears and his friends met up with Miller outside the bar where they all left to go eat at Moe's Original BBQ While there, Spears facetimed another UA basketball player. On this call, the other player and Miller asked Spears and his friends if they wanted to go out with them. 'Due to the lateness of the hour and [Spears' friends] planned trip back to Clemson University, [the three] declined the invitation with intentions to return immediately to Bryant Hall with no stops at any location.' 1:40 a.m. – Spears and his friends and Miller went their separate ways. 1:48 a.m. – In the parking lot of Bryant Hall, Spears facetimed Miller to see where they ended up going. In that process, Spears 'was informed that shots were fired at the windshield of Miller's vehicle.' 2 a.m. – Cooper Lee, UA basketball manager, called Spears to gather his thoughts at the dorm. 2:30 a.m.- 2:35 a.m. – Lee arrived at Spears room 4 a.m. – Spears went to the police station because the Tuscaloosa Police Department wanted to interview all the basketball players who were out that night According to the lawsuit, on March 15 around 3 p.m., Witz approached Spears and asked him, 'The night of the shooting, when you were in Brandon Miller's car, were you scared when the shots were fired?' To this question, Spears responded 'No comment,' per instruction from the UA Department of Athletics guidance. Florence Police K-9 catches man in crawl space Around 8 p.m. on March 15, the article stating Spears was in Miller's vehicle the night of the murder was published. The lawsuit says on March 20, Spears made a written demand that the New York Times retract the published statements claiming he was at the scene of the murder. However, the lawsuit says on March 25, the statements were not retracted from the article. On June 2, 2023, Lee emailed the New York Times to confirm that he was the previously unidentified passenger in Miller's vehicle at the time of the shooting. After this statement, the New York Times then updated the article, saying '[t]he original version of this article, published March 15, misidentified the person who was in the car with Brandon Miller when the shooting occurred,' according to federal court documents. On July 28, 2023, the New York Times Company motioned to dismiss both charges Spears filed against it. This motion, in relevance to the defamatory claims, that 'Because Spears Did Not Plead Special Damages, His Complaint Fails as a Matter of Law Unless the Challenged Statements Constitute Defamation Per Se,' and 'It is Not Defamatory Per Se to State, Even Erroneously, that Someone was a Bystander to, or Victim of, a Crime.' For the charge of False Light as to a matter of law, the New York Times Company said 'It is Not 'Highly Offensive' to Report Incorrectly that Spears Was in a Teammate's Car Shortly After He Actually Was in the Car,' and that 'The Complaint Does Not Plausibly Allege Actual Malice.' Trial begins Monday for Madison woman charged with child sex abuse, sodomy & bestiality in 2023 After some thought, On Dec. 6, 2023, a federal district judge granted in part and denied in part the New York Times Company's motion to dismiss: GRANTED IN PART: The motion was granted to dismiss the false light claim DENIED IN PART: The motion was denied to dismiss the defamation claim After some back and forth on whether the New York Times is obligated to reveal the source that falsely accused Spears as being at the scene, a federal judge told the Supreme Court of Alabama on May 22, 2025, that it had to decide whether the state's Shield Statute applies to a coorporation that publishes online and in a written publication. Mr. Spears has moved to compel the production of documents, to lift redactions on documents produced in response to his request for production, and to compel information redacted or withheld in The New York Times's responses to interrogatories. The New York Times opposes this motion based on its contention that Alabama's Shield Statute prohibits the 'compelled disclosure of newsgathering information.'' Federal court documents The document says that the New York Times defined 'newsgathering information' as including the identity of a source who provides information that it publishes as well as the identity of the source who corroborates some part of the published information.' Man accused of shooting, killing family member in altercation, police say The company says the statute applies to them because it is a newspaper and therefore the identities of sources are 'privileged.' In addition, the New York Times argues that Spears 'conceded that the information provided by its source(s) was ''published' within the meaning of Ala. Code § 12-21-142,' and therefore waived this issue.' However, the federal document says concessions of law are not binding on the court. This all being said, 'the court respectfully requests the Supreme Court of Alabama decide the question of whether the identity of a source whose information is published online by a corporation that publishes a newspaper is protected from compelled disclosure by a court.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hamilton Spectator
5 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
New crime novels feature a locked-room mystery, a Scarborough stabbing and a Jan. 6 insurrectionist
It's a weird time in American politics, which means it's a perfect time for Florida novelist Carl Hiaasen to plumb the satirical depths of corruption and malfeasance in his home state. His last novel, 2020's 'Squeeze Me,' suffered from a subplot that attempted to satirize the once-and-current occupant of the White House, a Falstaffian spray-tanned figure so outrageous as to be almost impervious to satire. For 'Fever Beach,' Hiaasen wisely steers clear of POTUS and his inept administration, preferring instead to focus on wanton corruption at a lower level. 'Fever Beach,' by Carl Hiaasen, Alfred A. Knopf, $34.99. The new novel begins with a meet-cute on an airplane between Twilly Spree and Viva Morales. Twilly is a stock Hiaasen character: an independently wealthy Florida do-gooder who spends his time making life miserable for folks who litter, antagonize the local wildlife or otherwise cause environmental or social havoc. Viva's job is administering the foundation of a couple of rich right-wing octogenarians whose fundraising operates as a money-laundering front to finance the campaign of far-right (and profoundly stupid) congressman Clure Boyette, in hot water with his obstreperous father over a scandal involving an underage prostitute named Galaxy. Add in Viva's landlord — a Jan. 6 insurrectionist named Dale Figgo who heads the Strokers for Freedom (a white nationalist militia whose name is a rebuke to the Proud Boys' insistence on refraining from masturbation) — and his cohort, the violent and reckless Jonas Onus, and you have all the ingredients for a classic Hiaasen caper. Twenty years ago, German-born author Leonie Swann debuted one of the most delightful detective teams in genre history: a flock of sheep on the trail of the person responsible for killing their shepherd with a spade through the chest. After a two-decade absence, Miss Maple, Othello, Mopple the Whale, and the other woolly sleuths are back on the case, this time on behalf of their new herder, Rebecca, the daughter of the early book's victim. 'Big Bad Wool,' by Leonie Swann, Soho Crime, $38.95. Rebecca, her intrusive Mum, and the sheep are overwintering in the lee of a French chateau where there are rumours of a marauding Garou — a werewolf — that is responsible for mutilating deer in the nearby woods. Among other strange occurrences, Rebecca's red clothing is found torn to pieces and some sheep go missing — and soon enough there's a dead human for the flock, in the uncomfortable company of a group of local goats, to deal with. 'Big Bad Wool' is a charming romp, whose pleasure comes largely from the ironic distance between the sheep's understanding of the world and that of the people who surround them. ('The humans in the stories did plenty of ridiculous things. Spring cleaning, revenge and diets.') Their enthusiasm and excitement results in prose that is a bit too reliant on exclamation points, and some of the more heavy-handed puns (like the sheep's insistence on 'woolpower') seem forced, but this is nevertheless a fun variation on the traditional country cosy. Romance novelist Uzma Jalaluddin takes a turn into mystery with this new book about amateur sleuth Kausar Khan. A widow in her late 50s, Kausar returns to Toronto from North Bay to help her daughter, Sana, who has been accused of stabbing her landlord to death in her Scarborough mall boutique. The police — including Sana's old flame, Ilyas — are convinced Sana is the prime suspect, but Kausar is determined to prove her daughter innocent. 'Detective Aunty,' by Uzma Jalaluddin, HarperCollins, $25.99. Her investigation involves a couple of competing developers, both of whom want to purchase the land on which the mall stands, along with members of the dead man's family and fellow shopkeepers. On the domestic front, Kausar finds herself concerned with Sana's deteriorating marriage to her husband, Hamza, and her teenage granddaughter's sullenness and mysterious nighttime disappearances. Jalaluddin does a good job integrating the various elements of her plot, and the familial relationships are nicely calibrated. The momentum is impeded, however, by a preponderance of clichés ('Playing devil's advocate, Kausar asked …'; 'Kausar's blood ran cold') and a tendency to hold the reader's hand by defining every easily Googleable Urdu word or greeting too programmatically. More attention to the writing on the line level would have helped move this one along. Yukito Ayatsuji's clever postmodern locked-room mystery was first published in Japanese in 2009; it appears for the first time in English translation, which is good news for genre fans. 'The Labyrinth House Murders,' by Yukito Ayatsuji, Pushkin Vertigo, $24.95. Ayatsuji's narrative is framed by Shimada, a mystery aficionado, who is presented with a novelization about murders that took place at the home of famed mystery writer Miyagaki Yotaro, found dead by his own hand soon after the manuscript opens. Miyagaki has left a bizarre challenge for the writers gathered at his Byzantine Labyrinth House: each must write a story featuring a murder, and the victim must be the writer him- or herself. The winning author, as adjudicated by a group of critics also convened at Labyrinth House, will inherit Miyagaki's sizable fortune. As the writers compete for the reward, bodies start falling in real life and Ayatsuji has a grand time playing metafictional games with his readers, challenging them to figure out who the culprit is in the context of a story that owes more than a small debt to Agatha Christie's 'And Then There Were None.' But Ayatsuji does Christie one better; it is only once the afterword, which closes the framed narrative, has unfolded that the reader fully understands how cleverly the author has conceived his multi-layered fictional trap.
