In an interview with Apple CEO Tim Cook, pop sensation Dua Lipa asked if he could guarantee that the cobalt used in her new iPhone 15 is not mined using child labor. Not only that, but Lipa also mentioned that this issue was complicated for all tech companies.
Tim Cook replied with absolute confidence that he and Apple could guarantee that there was no child labor involved. The CEO stated that Apple’s objective is to eventually “take nothing from the Earth” to make Apple products. He added that Apple watches now use recycled cobalt, tungsten, and other rare Earth materials. He clarified even further that for the products that are still being mined, Apple has an “intense level of tracing in the supply chain” to ensure that those materials aren’t acquired using a child’s hands.
Many praised Dua Lipa for this question since Cook had never been confronted about it before in any other interviews. It’s also undeniable that she’s brought media attention to the issue of the ongoing genocide in Congo, but not without its caveats. There are also commenters who criticized this interview as a PR move for Tim Cook to wash his hands clean from the modern Congolese genocide, since it’s impossible to confirm with absolute certainty that the products were ethically mined, since there is no proof to back up his claims. There was also no direct denial that Apple sources natural materials from Congo.
Congo, from the terms of President Joseph Kabila (2001–2019) to now Felix Tshisekedi (2019–present), has a government notorious for brutalizing its citizens. This is all fueled by multinational firms from the Western world and China so that they could get their hands on cobalt, coltan, copper, and nickel.
This isn’t about the Congolese Genocide that Leopold II of Belgium perpetuated, which was dubbed the bloodiest example of European colonization. Rather, it’s an ongoing genocide that is fueled by multinational tech companies’ thirst for cobalt. Perhaps one of the most shocking forms of protest to come out is the footage of a Congolese man lighting himself on fire at Kinshasa, with a sign that says, “Stop the genocide in Congo.”
The protest of the burning man, which caught everybody’s attention, was just the beginning. But it’s clear that it didn’t end the ongoing displacement, rape, and slaughter of the Congolese people even now, in 2023. Congolese men, women, and children work bare-handed with toxic raw materials under deadly conditions. In 2020, Apple was among the multinational corporations that were sued for damages over deaths and injuries of child miners in the DRC.
Tim Cook’s denial means nothing until substantial evidence is served.
(featured image: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
