Corporate distancing will not save children from the mines.
The tech industry’s focus on cost-cutting perpetuates child labor in cobalt mining, with 138 million children still working globally. Fairphone argues corporate distancing and audit schemes fail to address the issue and advocates for direct engagement with mining communities.
The International Labor Organization and UNICEF’s 2025 report confirms the tech sector has failed to eliminate child labor by 2025, with nearly 138 million children still working worldwide, primarily in sub-Saharan Africa. Despite public condemnations on World Day Against Child Labor, major brands continue to prioritize profit margins over ethical sourcing, perpetuating exploitative conditions in supply chains like cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Visits to artisanal cobalt mines in the DRC revealed the harsh realities faced by miners, including children, who extract minerals under dangerous conditions to meet global demand. While corporations often deny or obscure child labor in their supply chains through audits and ethical codes, these measures do little to protect vulnerable workers. Instead, they push artisanal mining further underground, stripping miners of leverage and leaving them unprotected in an unregulated market.
Fairphone rejects corporate distancing and instead works directly with mining communities through the Fair Cobalt Alliance to formalize small-scale mines. The company invests in safer working conditions, protective equipment, and fair wages for adult miners, aiming to reduce child labor by ensuring families can survive without relying on children’s income. This approach demonstrates that ethical sourcing is possible without sacrificing product quality or profitability.
Fairphone acknowledges its own imperfections but emphasizes that transparency and accountability are essential to addressing child labor. The company argues that the tech industry must accept higher costs for ethical sourcing and commit to solving the problem rather than ignoring it. Fairphone’s model proves that consumer electronics can be produced without treating workers as disposable commodities, challenging the industry to prioritize human dignity over profit.