Amnesty International says children as young as 7 are used to mine cobalt, a key component in lithium-ion batteries.
Amnesty International has issued a damning report claiming that Apple, Samsung, Microsoft, Sony and car makers Daimler and Volkswagen are not doing enough to ensure that minerals mined by child laborers are not making it into the batteries the companies use to power their products. The report traced the sale of cobalt, one of the main components used to make lithium-ion batteries, from mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo where children as young as 7 are used to mine the material.