US court clears Apple, Tesla, Microsoft, others of child labour charges in Africa’s cobalt mines

A federal appeals court has refused to hold five major technology companies -Google parent Alphabet, Apple, Dell Technologies, Microsoft, and Tesla- responsible for their alleged involvement in the use of child labour in cobalt mining operations within the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

16 plaintiffs, including representatives of five children who lost their lives in cobalt mining operations, were involved in the case.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled in favour of the technology companies, dismissing the appeal brought by former child miners and their representatives, Reuters reported.

Cobalt is a vital resource for tech companies, as a piece of lithium batteries used in iPhones, rechargeable vehicles, and other products. Most of the world’s cobalt is mined from within the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

As per the complaint, the five companies “deliberately obscured” their reliance on child labor, with several children coerced into working due to hunger and extreme poverty, ensuring the fulfillment of their increasing demand for the metal.

The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that at least 25,000 children are working in cobalt mines in the DRC.

However, the appeals court ruled that purchasing cobalt in the global supply chain did not constitute “participation in a venture” under federal law protecting children and victims of human trafficking and forced labour.

Circuit Judge Neomi Rao said the plaintiffs had legal standing to seek damages, but did not show the five companies had anything more than a buyer-seller relationship with suppliers, or had power to stop the use of child labour.

She added that many other parties are responsible for labor trafficking, including labor brokers, other cobalt consumers and the DRC government.

Dell said in a statement it was committed to upholding the human rights of workers throughout its supply chain and has never intentionally sourced products manufactured using child labour.

The cobalt suppliers implicated in the case were Eurasian Resources Group, Glencore, Umicore, and Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, as indicated in court documents. However, none of these suppliers were named as defendants in the case.