Tesla, Apple among firms accused of aiding child labour in Congo
Five of the world’s largest tech companies have been accused of being complicit in the death of children in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) forced to mine cobalt, a metal used to make telephones and computers, in a landmark lawsuit.
The legal complaint on behalf of 14 families from Congo was filed on Sunday by International Rights Advocates, a US-based human rights non-profit, against Tesla Inc, Apple Inc, Alphabet Inc, Microsoft Corp and Dell Technologies Inc.
The companies were part of a system of forced labour that the families claimed led to the death and serious injury of their children, it said. It marked the first time the tech industry jointly has faced legal action over the source of its cobalt.
Images in the court documents, filed in US District Court in Washington DC, showed children with disfigured or missing limbs.
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