Major tech companies including Apple, Samsung, Microsoft and Sony aren't doing enough to make sure the cobalt in their products wasn't mined by child laborers, according to a new report from Amnesty International, NBC News reported.
"Millions of people enjoy the benefits of new technologies but rarely ask how they are made," Mark Dummett, business and human rights researcher at Amnesty International, said in a statement. "It is high time the big brands took some responsibility for the mining of the raw materials that make their lucrative products."
At least 80 miners died in the DRC between September 2014 and December 2015, according to the report. Children told Amnesty International that they earned $2 a day "carrying heavy loads" during 12-hour shifts.
A Microsoft spokesperson told NBC News that the company was "fully committed to the responsible sourcing of raw materials used in our products" and that it was working on a pilot project with anti-poverty organization Pact to "eradicate child labor in the Katanga region of the Congo related to cobalt mining."
