A US federal appeals court has dismissed a lawsuit accusing five major tech companies of complicity in the use of child labour to mine cobalt in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The lawsuit targeted Apple, Microsoft, Tesla, Dell Technologies, and Google’s parent company, Alphabet.
The court’s ruling stated that the companies’ purchase of cobalt did not constitute participation in forced child labour, and the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate that the companies had the influence to halt the use of child labour in the mines, according to Circuit Judge Neomi Rao.
Terry Collingsworth, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, expressed his determination to continue seeking accountability, stating that they might appeal the ruling.
The case was initiated in 2019 by the human rights organisation International Rights Advocates, representing child survivors who suffered injuries while working in Congolese cobalt mines and the families of children who lost their lives in these mines.
Initially dismissed by a lower court in 2021, the case underwent an appeal process.
The Democratic Republic of Congo is a significant producer, contributing 60% of the world’s cobalt supply, a vital mineral in the manufacturing of electronic devices.
According to the US Department of Labour, approximately 25,000 children work in cobalt mines in the DR Congo, often under perilous conditions.