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Tech companies must do more to avoid using minerals tainted by rights abuses
Report claims smartphones and TVs often contain minerals from Colombia, Peru, Myanmar and elsewhere that may be associated with human rights abuses
Kate Hodal
@katehodal
Friday 7 April 2017 02.00 EDT
Tech firms trying to avoid using “conflict minerals” will need to work harder to keep them out of smartphones and tablets.
Companies are overlooking the risk that mining in countries other than the Democratic Republic of the Congo is linked to abuses and armed groups seeking to fund violence, claims a new report.
While existing laws on conflict minerals have focused on DRC and surrounding territories, where they have fuelled decades of war, new European rules coming into force this week take into account the “extreme risk” that tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold mined in countries like Colombia, Peru and Myanmar is equally tainted.
According to risk analytics group Verisk Maplecroft, tech companies could fall foul of the law.
More:
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/apr/07/tech-companies-conflict-minerals-rights-abuses-verisk-maplecroft
