A lawsuit brought by International Rights Advocates accused five of the world's tech giants of "knowingly benefiting from and aiding and abetting" forced child labor in cobalt mines in Congo. The companies accused were Apple, Alphabet which is Google's parent company, Dell Technologies, Microsoft, and Tesla.
Cobalt is a vital component to make the rechargeable lithium-ion batteries found in electronic devices, from desktop, smartphones, to electric vehicles. The mine, where the alleged incidents took place, is owned by another giant but in the commodities sector, Swiss-based Glencore.
The images which the International Rights Advocates presented in the U.S. District Court in Washington D.C. are heartbreaking to look at. The photos showed children with disfigured limbs. Some of them have already lost their legs and arms and six died while working.
One example is a 15-year-old boy who was paralyzed from the chest down. He fell a steep tunnel while mining for cobalt. He was only paid $1 a day.
Aside from being forced to work full-time given their young bodies, these kids are also exposed to perilous mining jobs and dangerous working conditions, according to the lawsuit. Of one particularly risky are incidents of tunnel collapses.
"Defendants Apple, Alphabet, Dell, Microsoft, and Tesla, are knowingly benefiting from and providing substantial support to this artisanal mining system in the DRC," the lawsuit reads.
"Defendants know and have known for a significant period the reality that DRC's cobalt mining sector is dependent upon children," reads the lawsuit on behalf of 14 unnamed plaintiffs.
Apple, Alphabet, Dell, Microsoft, and Tesla are in a difficult position given that their core products are highly dependent on cobalt components.
More than half of the world's cobalt is mined in Congo. The country is home to cobalt reserves amounting to about 3.4 million metric tons. For context, cobalt reserves worldwide amount to 6.9 million metric tons. By estimates, the world will have a voracious demand for cobalt used in batteries alone further into the future, especially in the advent of electric cars.
Some time between the 16th and 19th centuries ago, Congo was home to several million slaves. The country was relieved when slavery was finally made illegal in the latter part of the 19th century.
Just when Congo should be looking forward to progress from what it suffered for centuries, here comes a new form of slavery in the 21st century. In the name of industrialization, the African people are now enslaved to take advantage of their rich natural resources.
Apple, Alphabet, Dell, Microsoft, and Tesla have yet to release official statements regarding the lawsuit.
