The Wired Amazon

CNN Chief International Security Correspondent Nick Paton Walsh returns with a rare glimpse at a world deep in the Amazon jungle as it gets its first experience of the internet. In a remote corner where the protected indigenous lands of Brazil meet the volatile borderlands of Peru, he embeds with a group of activists as they introduce space-based internet via Elon Musk's Starlink satellite dishes to the indigenous Kanamari community for the first time. The full force of a technology that over decades has transformed every part of Western life is suddenly unleashed on this village – with all the benefits and dangers that come along with it.

"We were taken aback by how fast these communities realized the damaging nature of the internet on their lives," said Paton Walsh. "Yes, the jump from their time-honoured ways to an online world was huge. But they wasted no time in realizing there had to be an off button to keep their kids safe – something the urban world doesn't really see yet. It was a remarkable learning experience. I am old enough to remember a world without cellphones, and seeing that sense of calm – the ability to be still and disconnected again – really hammers home how much our lives have been accelerated and invaded by a technology we now all depend on for nearly everything."

As Paton Walsh watches the transformative effect on village life as the young quickly take to WhatsApp, Facebook and especially a Chinese Tiktok-like app called Kwai, he also bears witness as the elder community members try to control the internet's seductive grasp on its youth by switching it off. Paton Walsh also observes the benefits of being online, as they can report illegal fishermen who poach on their protected lake, prohibited loggers and miners. The team also fly over gold miners as they ravage the rainforest, leaving a trail of devastation in which little natural can survive.