The Dark Side of Cobalt Mining: How Tech Giants Profit from Child Labor in the Congo

By: JakeGTV

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is home to some of the world’s richest cobalt reserves, but behind this wealth lies a brutal reality. Artisanal cobalt mining, essential to powering the modern tech industry, relies heavily on child labor and exploitative practices that go largely unacknowledged by major corporations. Companies like Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Tesla have been implicated in human rights abuses as they profit from this resource while publicly claiming ethical practices. The disconnect between their marketing narratives and the conditions on the ground highlights how big tech conceals the darker side of the clean energy revolution.

Child Labor and Hazardous Working Conditions

Cobalt is essential for lithium-ion batteries used in smartphones, laptops, and electric vehicles, with the DRC supplying over 60% of the world’s cobalt. Much of this mining is artisanal, meaning it is done by hand, often by children as young as six. Working long hours with no protective equipment, these children face severe health risks, from respiratory diseases to developmental impairments due to exposure to toxic metals. Researcher Siddharth Kara, who documented these conditions in Cobalt Red, reports that child miners typically earn less than two dollars a day for grueling, dangerous work. Tragically, fatal accidents are common; many miners die in tunnel collapses, with their bodies left unrecovered in the rubble  .

Despite these dangers, cobalt from these artisanal mines makes its way into the global supply chain. Amnesty International found that companies like Huayou Cobalt source materials from sites where workers, including children, toil under these hazardous conditions. This supply chain opacity allows companies to distance themselves from human rights abuses while benefiting from the cheap labor of Congo’s artisanal miners .

Big Tech’s Complicity and Supply Chain Obfuscation

In 2019, a group of Congolese families filed a lawsuit against major tech companies, alleging that their products rely on cobalt mined by children working in dangerous conditions. The lawsuit accuses these companies of failing to implement effective safeguards to prevent child labor in their supply chains. Although these corporations have pledged to clean up their sourcing practices, investigations reveal that their efforts fall short. Companies often claim they are committed to ethical sourcing, but many do not trace the cobalt’s origins back to specific mines. This lack of transparency allows tech giants to uphold a public image of responsibility while indirectly supporting a system that exploits vulnerable workers  .

Initiatives like the Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI) aim to address these issues, but enforcement is minimal. While some companies have joined these groups, the lack of rigorous oversight means that cobalt from exploitative sources still flows into the supply chain. Kara describes this supply chain as deliberately opaque, designed to obscure the reality of mining conditions from consumers. As he notes, “There is an enormous supply-demand imbalance, on the demand side. Every last ounce of copper-cobalt ore being scrounged out of the ground… is flowing into the formal supply chain”  .

Industry-Funded Research and Shaping Public Perception

The tech industry’s approach to the cobalt supply chain is reminiscent of tactics used by other industries to shape public opinion. In the 1960s, the sugar industry funded studies that downplayed the role of sugar in heart disease, instead shifting the blame to dietary fats. This strategy influenced public health policies for decades, diverting attention from the dangers of sugar consumption. By funding research that supported their interests, sugar companies controlled the narrative, promoting a diet that benefited their bottom line at the expense of public health .

Similarly, tech companies tout their commitment to clean energy and ethical sourcing without addressing the human rights abuses tied to cobalt mining. They publicize their sustainability efforts and advancements in clean energy, but few discuss the exploitative practices required to obtain the necessary materials. Just as the sugar industry once downplayed the harms of its product, tech companies today obscure the ugly reality of cobalt mining. This selective transparency allows them to maintain a positive public image while continuing to profit from a system that harms some of the world’s most vulnerable people  .

Conclusion

The cobalt mining industry in the DRC exposes the ethical failures of tech giants who rely on child labor and exploitative practices to power their products. While these companies pledge ethical sourcing, their supply chains remain deliberately opaque, shielding them from accountability. This corporate strategy mirrors past industry efforts to influence public perception through selective research funding. As long as tech companies prioritize profits over people, the cycle of exploitation will persist, with consumers largely unaware of the human cost behind their devices.

References

• Human Rights Watch, “Child Labor and Human Rights Violations in the Mining Industry of the Democratic Republic of Congo,” accessed October 13, 2024. Link .

• Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, “Are These Tech Companies Complicit In Human Rights Abuses Of Child Cobalt Miners In Congo?” accessed October 13, 2024. Link .

• The Independent, “Cobalt mining for Big Tech is driving child labor, deaths in the Congo,” accessed October 13, 2024. Link .

• SWI swissinfo.ch, “Glencore named in Congo child labour case targeting Big Tech,” accessed October 13, 2024. Link .

• Amnesty International, “Child labour behind smart phone and electric car batteries,” accessed October 13, 2024. Link .

• Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, “Researchers Challenge Claims That Sugar Industry Shifted Blame to Fat,” accessed October 13, 2024. Link .

• Big Think, “Alzheimer’s Is Type 3 Diabetes,” accessed October 13, 2024. Link .