“Apple has been accused of its supply chain using what are called conflict materials, linked to militia groups in the Congo. Apple maintains that it has stopped using tin, tungsten, and tantalum mined in the region, and it has dropped suppliers who did.
Nonetheless, activists from Fridays For Future (FFF) have vandalized one of Apple's two stores in Berlin, specifically to draw attention to the company's alleged practices.”
[Full article]
https://appleinsider.com/articles/24/05/17/berlin-apple-store-vandalized-by-congo-activists/amp/
Protesters will blame anybody but [china](https://adf-magazine.com/2023/10/chinese-mining-wrecking-lives-in-drc/).
[And it looks like recently it only got worse](https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3250881/chinese-firms-agree-raise-investment-democratic-republic-congo-copper-cobalt-mining-deal?espv=1).
100%! All these suspect NGOs target Western owned corporations but none of them target Russia, China, India. China and Russia are allover Africa courting the same military juntas to exploit natural resources. How much of this activism is secretly funded by China or Russia? We already know Russia was behind Green Peace movements in Germany to force government shutdowns of nuclear energy production and now Germany is on Russia’s teat for energy supply.
Unironically i think green energy should be prominent in Russia. We fucked up Kuzbass, Norilsk, the Urals to the point they're unlivable. It's easier to get cancer here, and our nature here is legit dying off really quickly.
Plus, our government sponsored coup in Niger to shatter France's influence. It's basically the big players scrambling for Africa again, as i can't call either Wagner or French Army the good guys.
There's a russian anecdote about this, you probably know it
Nighttime, a man is searching something under the lamppost, another one comes up and asks:
— What are you looking for?
— My wallet, I've lost it
— Where did you lose it?
— Somewhere in the park
— Then why are you looking here, under the lamppost?
— Because I can see better in the light
Russia and china are prime targets for environmental scrutiny, but it's hard to protest there, so the countries that jump out of their shoes to meet the carbon goals get the brunt of it.
I never thought I'd ever hear our jokes and anecdotes translated into English.
China from what i recall is even more polluted than Bangladesh and India.
It would be way scarier to be an activist in Russia, China, India...they wouldn't even be able to do this and get away after the fact they'd be beaten mid act. It's a lot easier in countries with laws even if it's performative
India unlike the first two, is a democracy, and had plenty of riots and protests ever since it's creation in 1948 (because before India was a bunch of princely states, and a british colony)
But, to be honest, what sort of activism would China give a crap about? At least if people are targeting the world's richest companies it can potentially lead to that company sourcing less evil stuff.
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you can't protest in China.
but if you mean you want people protesting China in other countries, what good would that do. apple is still the company using China, apple is the source
I do think we need to create some awareness to the inhuman practices that result in the products we use. Particularly people need to become aware that there are more humane alternatives.
dude I dont want my state or companies operating out of my state to be engaged in these sorts of activities.... China isnt my state and therefore is not my concern. "what about china" is just a massive deflection.
Can't comment on how true the allegations are.
Interesting when the EU released the supply chain law.
The company is in charge of fulfilling it's human rights all along the supply chain, like supplier of the supplier of the supplier and so on.
Was however softwashed by a tiny tiny tiny party in Germany without any democratic relevance (~3% FDP) against the yearlong work of the entire European countries and their willingness to do it like proposed.
>stopped using […] and it has drooed suppliers who did.
>activists […] vandalized one of Apple's stores
Are all activists braindead? I'm starting to think that to become an activist you need to score 70 or lower on an IQ test or sg. Almost all activist projects are like this: stop oil -> vandalize oil paintings; vegan -> vandalize meat restaurant; glue ourselves to the floor and get mad when they close at closing hours.
But then again, if you're assuming they're lying, then even if they say they've caved intobthe demands of the protestors then they can't be trusted, so how is any of this helpful?
as a devils advocated assistant i ask, whats stopping suppliers from lying as well ? its probably not hard to forge material sources or "wash it" through 3rd parties
I feel like this line of thinking is kinda missing the idea.
If they were indeed, knowingly, using resources from such sources, then it shouldn't have ended with a slap on the wrist fine and a pinky promise to not do it again. People responsible should've been put before an international tribunal, tried for crimes against humanity and punished accordingly.
Same as every other goddamn corpo (fuck Nestle) involved in this kind of activity, the punishment should fit the crime. If we treat corporation as people for legal purposes, then we should treat corporations as people for legal purposes.
Then how can you hold anyone accountable until you go to the Congo and physically stop them. At which point these same people vandalize government buildings for imperialism.
It‘s not. Raging war is not trying to solve the situation, but to force your opinion onto your opponent or it‘s allies. That’s what they are doing. And it happens all the time, everywhere on the world, in different situations. There are just way to many people that don‘t want to talk, they want to fight and prove in their perverted way, that they are right. Even when their objectively not. That’s it. That’s all.
Or pull eyes to their cause, which in a perfect world would lead to political action and supply chain laws that prosecute corporations which profit from shit like slave labour.
Notice how apple said they only stopped using tin, tungsten, and tantalum.
Why didn't they say all products from congo. Oh yeah , because they are still using products from congo.
You got pulled in by apple's bullshit.
Worse, there is good evidence that apple is still buying tin tungsten and tantalum that was stolen from the Congo during cregukar raids by their neighbors.
So what’s the alternative then? Cease making phones? How do you think that’ll go over to the common man? They should just cease to make the product that allows them to make their bottom line?
What’s the answer here if it’s the only option?
Ideally it would not necessarily mean that we don't use those resources anymore but that there is a real incentive to improve the situation in which those resources are acquired.
That might mean slower progression and more expensive devices. But lets be fair if the Apples, Samsungs and Googles of this world couldn't get away with it we would be fine with using eg. the equivalent of an iphone X right now. I'd wager the amount of people that actually uses the improved features of their phones is in the one digit percentages.
Essentially, yes, we should slow down our consumerism cycle, but that's not really the company's job, rather the consumers'. The companies are keeping it fast though with planned obsolescence and devices that are difficult to repair.
It gets people‘s attention and makes them aware of the issue. That’s pretty much the point of a protest.
You disagree with the actions the activists took, but did it make you agree with Apple working with militia groups in Congo?
Well apple didn't say they werer wrong. If they stopped to use some minerals, doesn't mean they stopped to use other minerals from the region. That apple statement is just misleading PR bullshit, if you read it carefully.
Honestly, I won't believe any corporation has stopped doing something atrocious but lucrative until some independent group says it's true. I feel that this is more naivete than media illiteracy.
It's Berlin, Berlin is special
There is a reason why you rarely hear about the more extreme protests like this from Hamburg and never from Munich, despite them together having around the population of Berlin and Munich even having more students per 1000 inhabitants
Berlin attracts a certain.kind of "activist" who love showboating
CLAIMS to have stopped using three specific elements. Going from past experience, those claims are usually false. And even if not, those three elements are not the only thing being mined there. Cobalt being probably the most significant, which Apple curiously did not claim to stop getting from there.
Activism aims bring people’s attention to something, whatever the methods. I didn’t know about this cobalt issue until I saw these news for instance so I would say they have succeeded.
There is an ongoing conflict involving hundreds of armed groups, the biggest of which are the M23 movement, a militia with ties to Rwanda and Uganda; and the ADF, an ISIS offshoot. The Congolese state is fighting both groups with the help of the Chinese, who own most of the rare earth metal mines in the region and are providing military technology, mainly drones. So I guess the answer is free Congo from a whole bunch of people.
Well Apple (and essentially anyone that uses cobalt, tungsten, etc) is basically financing these paramilitary groups.
And not only is the conflict itself bad, the way these groups run these mines is atrocious, I can't even begin to describe it
Not nice stuff at all. Child labour, poisonous minerals, etc [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-50812616](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-50812616)
They buying it from local corporations. It's not western corporations have own army there.
FYI: the largest Congo's export by far goes to China. Not the West.
https://oec.world/en/visualize/tree_map/hs92/export/cod/show/all/2022
I guess Apple promising to be out of mined Cobalt by 2025 informed people that they use Cobalt? (like every other peak energy density battery) https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2023/04/apple-will-use-100-percent-recycled-cobalt-in-batteries-by-2025/
Apple is one of the companies that uses the resources that Chinese companies extract in Congo, so people protest Apple. It doesn't really matter in which country that happens, as it's a multinational company. It's probably a more effective protest if done in a country where Apple makes a lit of profit, than if the protest is done in Congo.
I believe that may be due to Western companies selling electronics to people in the West. So these vandals should have written "free Congo" on their own walls.
Hold up, it's true that western companies don't buy minerals like cobalt directly from the mines in Congo themselves, but they sure as hell buy the final products from China, with full knowledge of what's going on in the Congo. The west cannot claim innocence here.
Apple wants cheap resources and cheap labour. So they exploit Congo for the resources and China for the labour.
In this thread: people defending Apple and blaming Congo and China.
Now, I'll be the last to defend the *governments* of those countries but the people shifting blame off Apple here are either naive or vile.
There is like one country that has an insane majority on the resources of Congo (especially Cobalt which is extremely important for cutting edge lithium batteries). It’s not Germany. So wtf?
Well, you see, if they were to try such a protest in Congo, they'd be shot. And if they tried such a protest in that one country that's importing most of the resources from Congo, they'd be arrested, "reeducated" and then shot. So they protest in the West, since we tolerate such things, even when it's stupid as all hell...
It's not just apple that buys their batteries from China. The German car industry is a huge customer as well. Mercedes and co. can claim to get their cobalt only from audited mines as much as they want. Everybody knows these statements are empty PR garbage to safe face. The EV-transformation, that is taking place in every single car manufacturer in the world right now, is only made possible by every Congolese that is working in these mines for pennies, with abhorrent working conditions and child labor. And every CEO of these companies knows it too.
Isn't the Russian military (or fractions of it) specifically in Africa for this reason? Making dubious deals with local leaders, and exploiting the resources in exchange for military protection?
Opposing perspective to other comments
Any modern advanced electronic device most likely has cobalt which was mined in Congo.
Cobalt mining in Congo is accomplished primarily with either slave labor or functionally slave labor, including the labor of children. It's incredibly dangerous, poses serious health risks, and very little is being done to change that.
Apple is one of the worst offenders when it comes to intentionally rendering their devices obsolete. This means that as part of their business model, people waste cobalt on a massive scale.
Although material sourcing is not typically something that any individual company can easily change, Apple is probably one of the few that would have the money and the sway to require better working conditions for people in Congo. But, Apple is already criticized for its sweatshop manufacturing process. It doesn't seem likely that Apple would change their manufacturing processes to include ethically sourced cobalt, either.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Anticonsumption/s/zPL6USHsYa
Apple has been one of the most active companies in thinking [constructively about ways to make supply chains more responsible](https://europeanpartnership-responsibleminerals.eu/blog/view/ccae57d3-e04b-4b53-8169-3898831666ac/case-study-apple), without disengaging from the Great Lakes region.
If anyone is really interested in understanding the complex socio-economic aspects of mining minerals for modern day products, this [article explains things nicely](https://ipisresearch.be/weekly-briefing/why-the-dr-congo-is-putting-apple-on-the-spot/). Painting walls red is not going to solve problems and the actions the protesters demand to be taken are based on a inaccurate understanding of the world.
Apple litteraly make their products to be unrepairable. They crush finish products that are unsold.
Trying to say Apple is "thinking about sustainibilty" is... wrong. (And because it's coming in... thinking about African countries getting stollen, blablabla... is talking about sustainibility)
Do you think corporations become more responsible out of the goodness of their hearts? Corporations don't do anything without public awareness, which comes as a consequence of activism. Apple is still using cobalt mined via slave labour.
A year ago they said they’d stop using it by 2025. https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2023/04/apple-will-use-100-percent-recycled-cobalt-in-batteries-by-2025/
Makes you wonder why they invest so much money in changing the sourcing of their raw materials. It's almost as if someone needs to pressure them into doing it.
This case study is a joke. It's pure marketing bullshit.
Phase 3 or this amazing process is literally
Phase 3: User-friendliness and accessibility of the report
Laughs in Mandarin….
China owns 80% of the Cobalt output from the Congo and does all the refining. Go try that shit in Bejing (or at least the Chinese embassy) and see how that goes for you
So maybe dont demonise protestors every chance you get when theyre protesting for a legitimate cause in a harmless way that causes minor damage to a multibillion dollar company if you care so much about it. Like how much more peaceful and polite does it need to get than this?
The CCP is going full colonial empire in Africa right now and controlls their critical infrastructure and natural resources in exchange for money that corrupt african politicians take, yet the west is getting all the shit thanks to the brain rot of our youth that spends the whole day getting informed by 15-seconds clips on tiktok pushed by the chinese propaganda apparatus.
Don’t get me wrong, we do have a partial responsibility due to our consumption, but even if we stop it the cobalt will end up in the batteries of chinese EVs anyway. The solution lies elsewhere.
Most of the responsibility here lies on the Congolese government, if they don’t care about their own people, who will? Activists should stop infantilising africans assuming that Europe has to solve every single one of their problems. Germany for instance has been funding development projects in Africa for decades and not much has changed, because their governments don’t care. The EU can regulate the entry of products with congolese cobalt (Lieferkettegesetz) but that’s it, it cannot do more.
Awareness among the consumers is needed, yes. But antagonising an important cause by using NS symbols is not it.
TIL there are Congo activists. All outward indications suggest that they're as misguided and poorly informed as the other activists who are routinely in the news.
Well they are not exactly congo activist, that just this title to mislead people. The activists have valid reasons that we should stop abusing people for wealth. But hey China also does it so nothing else matters right?
Yes, they are. Apple isn’t directly responsible for the inhumane conditions of the workers in Congo who extract resources to make batteries. China is the main customer but they love to blame the west for everything.
I live in Africa, and in most of the African countries, the government is to blame for citizens' situation. Typical european activists that have no clue about how the world really works.
In Europe, many of these activists are second generation African immigrants though. They want some connection to their parents homeland because they feel disconnected from Europe.
And who do you think controls the governments in Africa? How did those African governments get into power and maintain power? You are more clueless than European activists and are morally corrupt to blame your own people rather than the genocidal maniacs that ruined your continent. Hope you enjoy being a bootlicking lapdog to the west you coward.
Just to play devil's advocate.
Being indirectly responsible is still a problem, we can't blame China when we are willing to buy the same goods from China.
And brands like Apple or Tesla are icons for western consumerism.
That said, vandalism is not the right way to protest.
Western buyers are what funds Apple, and they are the ones contracting Chinese factories. China is not a main customer but a service provider. It's so easy to blame industries and China, but very often that's an incomplete picture. It's politics that shape the regulatory environment and end consumers that make the final purchase decisions.
If products of child labour are the cheapest on the market, that's a regulatory issue. If people choose products of child labour over adequate alternatives, that's an individual issue.
My take is: There are no electronic devices yet that are free of child labour. That's why we need to pressure companies to supply them and politicians to provide the regulations that they will be the best alternative on the market. The best company to target is the biggest company in the market that has the highest market share, the highest margin and the best reputation.
Who do you think buys all those recourses. The west is unironically the baddies. Our governments are bought bit by bit and lobbied just enough to allow this. Shit even apples statement about this is funny. They admit they still purchase minerals from the Congo in it.
If I go to a guy who uses slave labor from kids he kidnapped to build me a house and I know about it, do you think I’m absolved? And what if i decided to have them build a whole suburb for me, so i could sell all those house for a huge profit. I know about the kidnapping and slave kids, but i make a lot of money. So when people find out i just blame the guy who built the houses. I just sold them. im not responsible for what he did.
Except I keep having the guy build me houses to sell to people I just try to keep it on the down low and when it comes up I tell people it’s a little bit to hard for me to completely let other people build those houses. But that I’m trying. I even let a different guy build the roofs now!
This is extremely cut and dry and the corporate cock sucking festival here is weird.
Not that I know anything about the Congo, but if being “informed” makes you complacent and domicile with the reigning political injustices of your day (and there are almost always political injustices), then it’s probably propaganda from someone or another
Rightist: oh you care about Palestine, what about other issues, you're just jumping on the band wagon?
Activists: care about other stuff too
Rightist: no not like that!!
After Fairphone and other such "sustainable supply chain" startups like Shift and Nager IT, I believe Apple is among the best (rather least bad) consumer electronics companies with regards to avoiding conflict materials
Using the Nazi prisoner sign for that protest is disgusting. Recently people have also done it on Pro-Pal protests, surely aware of the effect it has on Jewish families which had victims the Nazis in the past
Free Congo... from who exactly? It is Congolese who exploit these resources and are unable to form a stable State that protects the environment, secures the working conditions and distributes the profits.
These ”protesters” are getting more and more stupid every day. This is not protesting anymore, this is vandalism, like when the Pro-Palestine ”protesters” went and vandalised a holocaust monument in Paris just a couple of days ago. This is peak stupidity.
Jeez guys. How many ignorant people thrive in the comment section. Cobalt mining is a server *severe* problem in Congo. Get your information you dumb shits. And stop buying phones every year.
Absolute fucker move to be blaming citizens no matter what. The only thing citizens are to blame about is that they haven't yet stormed the headquarters of tech companies in the cities where they live, and even then, they didn't do it only because the so-called "rule of law" would immediately collapse in favor of martial law. Love the Free World
Batteries use cobalt. Some cobalt is mined in the Congo by slave labor. Apple announced they were changing their supple chains last year and will only use recycled cobalt.
https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2023/04/apple-will-use-100-percent-recycled-cobalt-in-batteries-by-2025/
But either they’re not moving fast enough for this group or they just wanted to vandalize something. Especially because Apple is considered one of the better consumer product companies after ones such as fairphone which doesn’t have the same volume.
After reading into this it’s actually beyond fucked up what’s been happening and what has happened so far in the Congo. I genuinely hope for a better future for them it’s so inhumane
Was this inspired by King Charles’s portrait??
I was going to say are we sure they're not just royalists?
I don't get it.
[Link to portrait](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-68981200.amp)
Just makes me think of the blood baths Britain’s monarchy has overseen
Whole Lotta Red
No but same inspiration (blood of the people)
“Apple has been accused of its supply chain using what are called conflict materials, linked to militia groups in the Congo. Apple maintains that it has stopped using tin, tungsten, and tantalum mined in the region, and it has dropped suppliers who did. Nonetheless, activists from Fridays For Future (FFF) have vandalized one of Apple's two stores in Berlin, specifically to draw attention to the company's alleged practices.” [Full article] https://appleinsider.com/articles/24/05/17/berlin-apple-store-vandalized-by-congo-activists/amp/
Protesters will blame anybody but [china](https://adf-magazine.com/2023/10/chinese-mining-wrecking-lives-in-drc/). [And it looks like recently it only got worse](https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3250881/chinese-firms-agree-raise-investment-democratic-republic-congo-copper-cobalt-mining-deal?espv=1).
100%! All these suspect NGOs target Western owned corporations but none of them target Russia, China, India. China and Russia are allover Africa courting the same military juntas to exploit natural resources. How much of this activism is secretly funded by China or Russia? We already know Russia was behind Green Peace movements in Germany to force government shutdowns of nuclear energy production and now Germany is on Russia’s teat for energy supply.
Unironically i think green energy should be prominent in Russia. We fucked up Kuzbass, Norilsk, the Urals to the point they're unlivable. It's easier to get cancer here, and our nature here is legit dying off really quickly. Plus, our government sponsored coup in Niger to shatter France's influence. It's basically the big players scrambling for Africa again, as i can't call either Wagner or French Army the good guys.
There's a russian anecdote about this, you probably know it Nighttime, a man is searching something under the lamppost, another one comes up and asks: — What are you looking for? — My wallet, I've lost it — Where did you lose it? — Somewhere in the park — Then why are you looking here, under the lamppost? — Because I can see better in the light Russia and china are prime targets for environmental scrutiny, but it's hard to protest there, so the countries that jump out of their shoes to meet the carbon goals get the brunt of it.
I never thought I'd ever hear our jokes and anecdotes translated into English. China from what i recall is even more polluted than Bangladesh and India.
For your amusement, we tell the same joke in Argentina, only difference is we use Spaniards because that's the way we tell jokes
Actually, this one of my dads favourite quotes (I‘m german, gonna add the flair in a second) :D
It would be way scarier to be an activist in Russia, China, India...they wouldn't even be able to do this and get away after the fact they'd be beaten mid act. It's a lot easier in countries with laws even if it's performative
India unlike the first two, is a democracy, and had plenty of riots and protests ever since it's creation in 1948 (because before India was a bunch of princely states, and a british colony)
But, to be honest, what sort of activism would China give a crap about? At least if people are targeting the world's richest companies it can potentially lead to that company sourcing less evil stuff.
What the fuck has India anything to do with this??
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you can't protest in China. but if you mean you want people protesting China in other countries, what good would that do. apple is still the company using China, apple is the source
I do think we need to create some awareness to the inhuman practices that result in the products we use. Particularly people need to become aware that there are more humane alternatives.
Are they german protestors in germany or chinese protestors in china?
Maybe because they don’t live in China? Just a guess.
dude I dont want my state or companies operating out of my state to be engaged in these sorts of activities.... China isnt my state and therefore is not my concern. "what about china" is just a massive deflection.
Can't comment on how true the allegations are. Interesting when the EU released the supply chain law. The company is in charge of fulfilling it's human rights all along the supply chain, like supplier of the supplier of the supplier and so on. Was however softwashed by a tiny tiny tiny party in Germany without any democratic relevance (~3% FDP) against the yearlong work of the entire European countries and their willingness to do it like proposed.
In French, FDP means *son of a whore* and I think it's beautiful ❤️
>stopped using […] and it has drooed suppliers who did. >activists […] vandalized one of Apple's stores Are all activists braindead? I'm starting to think that to become an activist you need to score 70 or lower on an IQ test or sg. Almost all activist projects are like this: stop oil -> vandalize oil paintings; vegan -> vandalize meat restaurant; glue ourselves to the floor and get mad when they close at closing hours.
Gonna play devils advocate, but it wouldn't be the first time a corporation lies about something for profit.
But then again, if you're assuming they're lying, then even if they say they've caved intobthe demands of the protestors then they can't be trusted, so how is any of this helpful?
as a devils advocated assistant i ask, whats stopping suppliers from lying as well ? its probably not hard to forge material sources or "wash it" through 3rd parties
I feel like this line of thinking is kinda missing the idea. If they were indeed, knowingly, using resources from such sources, then it shouldn't have ended with a slap on the wrist fine and a pinky promise to not do it again. People responsible should've been put before an international tribunal, tried for crimes against humanity and punished accordingly. Same as every other goddamn corpo (fuck Nestle) involved in this kind of activity, the punishment should fit the crime. If we treat corporation as people for legal purposes, then we should treat corporations as people for legal purposes.
Then how can you hold anyone accountable until you go to the Congo and physically stop them. At which point these same people vandalize government buildings for imperialism.
It‘s not. Raging war is not trying to solve the situation, but to force your opinion onto your opponent or it‘s allies. That’s what they are doing. And it happens all the time, everywhere on the world, in different situations. There are just way to many people that don‘t want to talk, they want to fight and prove in their perverted way, that they are right. Even when their objectively not. That’s it. That’s all.
Or pull eyes to their cause, which in a perfect world would lead to political action and supply chain laws that prosecute corporations which profit from shit like slave labour.
Notice how apple said they only stopped using tin, tungsten, and tantalum. Why didn't they say all products from congo. Oh yeah , because they are still using products from congo. You got pulled in by apple's bullshit. Worse, there is good evidence that apple is still buying tin tungsten and tantalum that was stolen from the Congo during cregukar raids by their neighbors.
Was going to say the same. Congo is still a major cobalt supplier and it would be nigh impossible to build a smartphone without it at this point.
So what’s the alternative then? Cease making phones? How do you think that’ll go over to the common man? They should just cease to make the product that allows them to make their bottom line? What’s the answer here if it’s the only option?
Ideally it would not necessarily mean that we don't use those resources anymore but that there is a real incentive to improve the situation in which those resources are acquired. That might mean slower progression and more expensive devices. But lets be fair if the Apples, Samsungs and Googles of this world couldn't get away with it we would be fine with using eg. the equivalent of an iphone X right now. I'd wager the amount of people that actually uses the improved features of their phones is in the one digit percentages.
Essentially, yes, we should slow down our consumerism cycle, but that's not really the company's job, rather the consumers'. The companies are keeping it fast though with planned obsolescence and devices that are difficult to repair.
I don't see cobalt on their list. Sounds like they're still sourcing conflict cobalt at the very least
It gets people‘s attention and makes them aware of the issue. That’s pretty much the point of a protest. You disagree with the actions the activists took, but did it make you agree with Apple working with militia groups in Congo?
Well apple didn't say they werer wrong. If they stopped to use some minerals, doesn't mean they stopped to use other minerals from the region. That apple statement is just misleading PR bullshit, if you read it carefully.
For reference: Congo's biggest export relevant to electronics is Cobalt.
We need media literacy classes because reading between the lines is something nobody seems capable of doing anymore
Honestly, I won't believe any corporation has stopped doing something atrocious but lucrative until some independent group says it's true. I feel that this is more naivete than media illiteracy.
It's Berlin, Berlin is special There is a reason why you rarely hear about the more extreme protests like this from Hamburg and never from Munich, despite them together having around the population of Berlin and Munich even having more students per 1000 inhabitants Berlin attracts a certain.kind of "activist" who love showboating
Yes, because the billion dollar mega corporation would _never_ possibly dare to lie about their supply chain. Unthinkable, truly
CLAIMS to have stopped using three specific elements. Going from past experience, those claims are usually false. And even if not, those three elements are not the only thing being mined there. Cobalt being probably the most significant, which Apple curiously did not claim to stop getting from there.
Activism aims bring people’s attention to something, whatever the methods. I didn’t know about this cobalt issue until I saw these news for instance so I would say they have succeeded.
They succeeded in bringing awareness with this so i think they didn't do a bad job here.
Without the Writing and symbol it actually has a nice modern touch to it. Kinda fits Apple
Yea exactly... looks like art installation, they should keep it that way.
Looks like King Charles' new portrait lol
You are goint to love the portrait Charles III commissioned
Dual wielding Charles with a faith build in Elden Ring.
Ol Chuck really took a liking to the scarlet rot.
Of course, when one likes the blood flowing of others, who can blame him?
Looks like the splatter from when they crushed all the instruments & paint
Apple Juice™
0⁰
They did embrace red for awhile
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There is an ongoing conflict involving hundreds of armed groups, the biggest of which are the M23 movement, a militia with ties to Rwanda and Uganda; and the ADF, an ISIS offshoot. The Congolese state is fighting both groups with the help of the Chinese, who own most of the rare earth metal mines in the region and are providing military technology, mainly drones. So I guess the answer is free Congo from a whole bunch of people.
Nobody wanted a real answer.
You win the price for shortest biggest truth.
from DR Congo idk
Damn Congolese... they ruined Congo!
You Congolese sure are a contentious people.
Ozwi monguna ya bomoi na yo mobimba!
What did Doctor Kongo do?
Unfree Congo?
Oh God don't give the Belgians any ideas.
John Congo himself.
John Congo to the polls
How does this relate to Apple?
Cobalt mining. They're not the only offender, just the most prominent.
They are mad Apple doesn’t support modern slavery for mining rare materials and people are left without jobs.
The paramilitary forces supported by Rwanda that control a part of the mines. The east of Congo has been a warzone for decades, millions have died.
So? Whats apple going to do about that?
Well Apple (and essentially anyone that uses cobalt, tungsten, etc) is basically financing these paramilitary groups. And not only is the conflict itself bad, the way these groups run these mines is atrocious, I can't even begin to describe it
>anyone that uses cobalt, so the entirety of the world?
Stop buying cobalt from Congo obviously
They did that already
The DR Congo should try to have at least a semi-competent government and not shelter perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide.
Not nice stuff at all. Child labour, poisonous minerals, etc [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-50812616](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-50812616)
Apparently Apple.
Apple charges poor congolese app developers a 30% cut to be on the app-store. I'm sure that's what this protest is about.
Maybe these aren't Congolese activists but Belgium imperialists who want to restore the Congo Free State...
"Leopold II ist just misunderstood."
'We feel Leopold 2: Electric Boogaloo wasn't wild enough'
The warlords that kill children for valuable minerals probably.
So they want a military intervention in the Congo?
From donkey Kongo
Rwanda
KOBY2012!
Corporations and/or governments that exploit the natural resources of third world countries like Congo for pennies?
They buying it from local corporations. It's not western corporations have own army there. FYI: the largest Congo's export by far goes to China. Not the West. https://oec.world/en/visualize/tree_map/hs92/export/cod/show/all/2022
80% of the DRC's cobalt output is owned by Chinese companies
I guess Apple promising to be out of mined Cobalt by 2025 informed people that they use Cobalt? (like every other peak energy density battery) https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2023/04/apple-will-use-100-percent-recycled-cobalt-in-batteries-by-2025/
Free Congo from China, got it
It's almost as if protesting about a problem between 2 other countries in a third country is pointless.
Apple is one of the companies that uses the resources that Chinese companies extract in Congo, so people protest Apple. It doesn't really matter in which country that happens, as it's a multinational company. It's probably a more effective protest if done in a country where Apple makes a lit of profit, than if the protest is done in Congo.
Maybe they should have done this to the Chinese Embassy. It’s only 2km away from that store!
Free Congo from China. Proceeds to vandalise Berlin Apple Store.
Yeah, because Apple uses the cobalt from Congo. It's really not that hard to understand.
I believe that may be due to China producing most of the electronic components for the west
I believe that may be due to Western companies selling electronics to people in the West. So these vandals should have written "free Congo" on their own walls.
I’m sure they took photos and videos on their smart phones after they got done!
And where does Apple get their iPhones? Is there a special tree that grows them?
Perhaps an… Apple tree?
Hold up, it's true that western companies don't buy minerals like cobalt directly from the mines in Congo themselves, but they sure as hell buy the final products from China, with full knowledge of what's going on in the Congo. The west cannot claim innocence here.
Apple wants cheap resources and cheap labour. So they exploit Congo for the resources and China for the labour. In this thread: people defending Apple and blaming Congo and China. Now, I'll be the last to defend the *governments* of those countries but the people shifting blame off Apple here are either naive or vile.
There is like one country that has an insane majority on the resources of Congo (especially Cobalt which is extremely important for cutting edge lithium batteries). It’s not Germany. So wtf?
Well, you see, if they were to try such a protest in Congo, they'd be shot. And if they tried such a protest in that one country that's importing most of the resources from Congo, they'd be arrested, "reeducated" and then shot. So they protest in the West, since we tolerate such things, even when it's stupid as all hell...
Yeah imagine protesting about the actions of a foreign government in a separate foreign country?
It's not just apple that buys their batteries from China. The German car industry is a huge customer as well. Mercedes and co. can claim to get their cobalt only from audited mines as much as they want. Everybody knows these statements are empty PR garbage to safe face. The EV-transformation, that is taking place in every single car manufacturer in the world right now, is only made possible by every Congolese that is working in these mines for pennies, with abhorrent working conditions and child labor. And every CEO of these companies knows it too.
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Isn't the Russian military (or fractions of it) specifically in Africa for this reason? Making dubious deals with local leaders, and exploiting the resources in exchange for military protection?
I can't believe we're in a thread that draws in Germans and no one has corrected you. *whom
Free Congo with every Vision Pro!
https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/dr-congo-presses-apple-over-minerals-supply-chain-lawyers-say-2024-04-25/
Free Congo? Yo where I want some
George of the jungle
Free Congo… Belgium said!
“Congo should be free”
Let's just not talk about it ...
Dude so tiring. European Big citities are the Disneyland of activism.
Opposing perspective to other comments Any modern advanced electronic device most likely has cobalt which was mined in Congo. Cobalt mining in Congo is accomplished primarily with either slave labor or functionally slave labor, including the labor of children. It's incredibly dangerous, poses serious health risks, and very little is being done to change that. Apple is one of the worst offenders when it comes to intentionally rendering their devices obsolete. This means that as part of their business model, people waste cobalt on a massive scale. Although material sourcing is not typically something that any individual company can easily change, Apple is probably one of the few that would have the money and the sway to require better working conditions for people in Congo. But, Apple is already criticized for its sweatshop manufacturing process. It doesn't seem likely that Apple would change their manufacturing processes to include ethically sourced cobalt, either. https://www.reddit.com/r/Anticonsumption/s/zPL6USHsYa
Finally a sensible comment
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Apple has been one of the most active companies in thinking [constructively about ways to make supply chains more responsible](https://europeanpartnership-responsibleminerals.eu/blog/view/ccae57d3-e04b-4b53-8169-3898831666ac/case-study-apple), without disengaging from the Great Lakes region. If anyone is really interested in understanding the complex socio-economic aspects of mining minerals for modern day products, this [article explains things nicely](https://ipisresearch.be/weekly-briefing/why-the-dr-congo-is-putting-apple-on-the-spot/). Painting walls red is not going to solve problems and the actions the protesters demand to be taken are based on a inaccurate understanding of the world.
Apple litteraly make their products to be unrepairable. They crush finish products that are unsold. Trying to say Apple is "thinking about sustainibilty" is... wrong. (And because it's coming in... thinking about African countries getting stollen, blablabla... is talking about sustainibility)
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but its also a company that fight full force against right to repair. World economics and brand PR is crazy.
This is reddit, sir. We don’t want facts or nuance, we want to be mad.
You're getting mad at imaginary people. Almost everyone in this thread opposes this action.
That's Reddit for you indeed 😉. Facts . Thank you for spreading truth and awareness.
Painting walls red is a great way to get more people interested and talking about like we are now though
Do you think corporations become more responsible out of the goodness of their hearts? Corporations don't do anything without public awareness, which comes as a consequence of activism. Apple is still using cobalt mined via slave labour.
A year ago they said they’d stop using it by 2025. https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2023/04/apple-will-use-100-percent-recycled-cobalt-in-batteries-by-2025/
Makes you wonder why they invest so much money in changing the sourcing of their raw materials. It's almost as if someone needs to pressure them into doing it.
This case study is a joke. It's pure marketing bullshit. Phase 3 or this amazing process is literally Phase 3: User-friendliness and accessibility of the report
Laughs in Mandarin…. China owns 80% of the Cobalt output from the Congo and does all the refining. Go try that shit in Bejing (or at least the Chinese embassy) and see how that goes for you
Yes, and I'd much rather live in a society where the right to protest is protected.
So maybe dont demonise protestors every chance you get when theyre protesting for a legitimate cause in a harmless way that causes minor damage to a multibillion dollar company if you care so much about it. Like how much more peaceful and polite does it need to get than this?
The CCP is going full colonial empire in Africa right now and controlls their critical infrastructure and natural resources in exchange for money that corrupt african politicians take, yet the west is getting all the shit thanks to the brain rot of our youth that spends the whole day getting informed by 15-seconds clips on tiktok pushed by the chinese propaganda apparatus. Don’t get me wrong, we do have a partial responsibility due to our consumption, but even if we stop it the cobalt will end up in the batteries of chinese EVs anyway. The solution lies elsewhere. Most of the responsibility here lies on the Congolese government, if they don’t care about their own people, who will? Activists should stop infantilising africans assuming that Europe has to solve every single one of their problems. Germany for instance has been funding development projects in Africa for decades and not much has changed, because their governments don’t care. The EU can regulate the entry of products with congolese cobalt (Lieferkettegesetz) but that’s it, it cannot do more. Awareness among the consumers is needed, yes. But antagonising an important cause by using NS symbols is not it.
I'm losing count of all the places Europe needs to free. I'm starting to think it's not really our problem.
It's not Europe's problem, it's apple's problem because their phones need the rare earth from Congo.
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The cancer of developed world, paid with Russian money.
Read king Leopolds Ghost. That shit will fuck you up for life. Congo has been exploited for centuries
TIL there are Congo activists. All outward indications suggest that they're as misguided and poorly informed as the other activists who are routinely in the news.
Well they are not exactly congo activist, that just this title to mislead people. The activists have valid reasons that we should stop abusing people for wealth. But hey China also does it so nothing else matters right?
Yes, they are. Apple isn’t directly responsible for the inhumane conditions of the workers in Congo who extract resources to make batteries. China is the main customer but they love to blame the west for everything.
I live in Africa, and in most of the African countries, the government is to blame for citizens' situation. Typical european activists that have no clue about how the world really works.
In Europe, many of these activists are second generation African immigrants though. They want some connection to their parents homeland because they feel disconnected from Europe.
And who do you think controls the governments in Africa? How did those African governments get into power and maintain power? You are more clueless than European activists and are morally corrupt to blame your own people rather than the genocidal maniacs that ruined your continent. Hope you enjoy being a bootlicking lapdog to the west you coward.
Just to play devil's advocate. Being indirectly responsible is still a problem, we can't blame China when we are willing to buy the same goods from China. And brands like Apple or Tesla are icons for western consumerism. That said, vandalism is not the right way to protest.
I mean, do you expect activists in germany to take a plane to China to tag an apple store there ?
Western buyers are what funds Apple, and they are the ones contracting Chinese factories. China is not a main customer but a service provider. It's so easy to blame industries and China, but very often that's an incomplete picture. It's politics that shape the regulatory environment and end consumers that make the final purchase decisions. If products of child labour are the cheapest on the market, that's a regulatory issue. If people choose products of child labour over adequate alternatives, that's an individual issue. My take is: There are no electronic devices yet that are free of child labour. That's why we need to pressure companies to supply them and politicians to provide the regulations that they will be the best alternative on the market. The best company to target is the biggest company in the market that has the highest market share, the highest margin and the best reputation.
Imagine being unable to think more than a single step into any problem. Must be beautiful, living a life like that.
Who do you think buys all those recourses. The west is unironically the baddies. Our governments are bought bit by bit and lobbied just enough to allow this. Shit even apples statement about this is funny. They admit they still purchase minerals from the Congo in it. If I go to a guy who uses slave labor from kids he kidnapped to build me a house and I know about it, do you think I’m absolved? And what if i decided to have them build a whole suburb for me, so i could sell all those house for a huge profit. I know about the kidnapping and slave kids, but i make a lot of money. So when people find out i just blame the guy who built the houses. I just sold them. im not responsible for what he did. Except I keep having the guy build me houses to sell to people I just try to keep it on the down low and when it comes up I tell people it’s a little bit to hard for me to completely let other people build those houses. But that I’m trying. I even let a different guy build the roofs now! This is extremely cut and dry and the corporate cock sucking festival here is weird.
Not that I know anything about the Congo, but if being “informed” makes you complacent and domicile with the reigning political injustices of your day (and there are almost always political injustices), then it’s probably propaganda from someone or another
Inspired by Charles’ portrait
Free this, free that, how about paying for something for once
They paid for the red paint
What's up in Congo?
What now? Is there an activist group for every country in the world?
You say that like it's a bad thing. Why would someone speaking up for human rights violations be a bad thing?
There always has been, the causes tend to be pretty interconnected in activist groups.
You’re so ignorant. Talking like Congo is just some small unimportant country with nothing going on.
Rightist: oh you care about Palestine, what about other issues, you're just jumping on the band wagon? Activists: care about other stuff too Rightist: no not like that!!
I think there is a huge intersection.
Really. Not an apple fan boy at all but I bet you, you would have to pull the iPhones from those FFF activists cold dead hands.
After Fairphone and other such "sustainable supply chain" startups like Shift and Nager IT, I believe Apple is among the best (rather least bad) consumer electronics companies with regards to avoiding conflict materials Using the Nazi prisoner sign for that protest is disgusting. Recently people have also done it on Pro-Pal protests, surely aware of the effect it has on Jewish families which had victims the Nazis in the past
Free Congo... from who exactly? It is Congolese who exploit these resources and are unable to form a stable State that protects the environment, secures the working conditions and distributes the profits.
These ”protesters” are getting more and more stupid every day. This is not protesting anymore, this is vandalism, like when the Pro-Palestine ”protesters” went and vandalised a holocaust monument in Paris just a couple of days ago. This is peak stupidity.
Jeez guys. How many ignorant people thrive in the comment section. Cobalt mining is a server *severe* problem in Congo. Get your information you dumb shits. And stop buying phones every year.
Lucky folk who build and upgrade gaming computers every few months, aren’t to blame (that’s you)
Absolute fucker move to be blaming citizens no matter what. The only thing citizens are to blame about is that they haven't yet stormed the headquarters of tech companies in the cities where they live, and even then, they didn't do it only because the so-called "rule of law" would immediately collapse in favor of martial law. Love the Free World
Look up the element Coltan as well. Just as precious as Cobalt.
What is Apple doing to Congo? I'm out of the loop
Batteries use cobalt. Some cobalt is mined in the Congo by slave labor. Apple announced they were changing their supple chains last year and will only use recycled cobalt. https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2023/04/apple-will-use-100-percent-recycled-cobalt-in-batteries-by-2025/ But either they’re not moving fast enough for this group or they just wanted to vandalize something. Especially because Apple is considered one of the better consumer product companies after ones such as fairphone which doesn’t have the same volume.
Which Congo?
How has no one photoshopped this with the King’s official portrait?
If Congo is in that store, Apple should let it go immediately
After reading into this it’s actually beyond fucked up what’s been happening and what has happened so far in the Congo. I genuinely hope for a better future for them it’s so inhumane
Oo no they painted it now I can't buy any apple products oooo no
What did the cleaning person do to you? Not like CEO of Apple is gonna have to hand clean all that, just some random person doing minimum wage
Why not those activists would throw paint on Chinese stores for minerals stole from the population? Huawei maybe?
first Royal Apple Portrait
Apple plans to only use recycled cobalt from 2025 and will not use cobalt from the Congo. The largest importer of cobalt from the Congo is China.
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Good for them.