Tesla, cut ties with forced child labor in your cobalt supply chain

Right now, children as young as six are being forced to dig cobalt out of the ground in the Democratic Republic of Congo which ends up in Tesla’s batteries. 

These children are not simply working to survive. We’re talking about children coerced, trafficked, or trapped by debt into digging through narrow, hand-dug tunnels with no safety gear. Many are injured. Some don’t make it out.¹

“I saw a boy younger than me buried alive in a tunnel collapse,” one survivor said. “His parents never found his body.” — Cobalt Red, Siddharth Kara²

Tesla’s supply chain includes known offenders

Tesla sources cobalt from Glencore, a company that recently paid over $1.1 billion in criminal fines for bribery and corruption—including in Africa. It also buys from Chinese companies like Huayou Cobalt and CNGR, both of which have been linked to cobalt sourced from mines where forced child labor is known to occur.

Investigations and survivor testimony show that many workers, especially children, are controlled by debt or threat—the core elements of forced labor. Yet Tesla refuses to publicly disclose its full list of suppliers or allow independent audits of its cobalt supply chain.

The courts failed. Accountability is still possible.

In 2019, a group of Congolese survivors—including children—filed a lawsuit against Tesla and other companies. The case was dismissed in 2023, not because the abuse didn’t happen, but because the court ruled that Tesla couldn’t be held legally responsible for the actions of its suppliers.³

This legal failure highlights a deeper problem: corporations like Tesla are able to profit from modern slavery without consequence — unless the public demands transparency and reform.

Meanwhile, Tesla faces scrutiny—just not for this

Elon Musk and Tesla are under fire for many things: labor rights violations, misinformation, political influence, and environmental concerns. Protests are growing. Musk’s role in public policy is expanding.

But this issue—forced child labor in Tesla’s cobalt supply chain—is being ignored.

Even when asked about it, Musk’s response was flippant:

“…we’ll put a webcam on the mine. If anybody sees any children, please let us know.”—Elon Musk⁴ 

The cost of silence

The clean energy transition must not be built on exploitation. A sustainable future that depends on forced child labor is no future at all.

We haven’t forgotten the children in those mines. And we haven’t forgotten that the courts failed them. Public pressure is the only path left.

Join us in demanding Tesla audit and clean up its cobalt supply chain. 

Tell them to:

• Audit and publicly disclose its cobalt supply chain
• Take action to prevent, and mitigates risks of, forced child labor
• Invest in long-term solutions to prevent forced child labor in the cobalt industry

Tesla has the power to change course. That starts with transparency, accountability, and an honest reckoning with the harm in its supply chain.