Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Harvard professor says every device that relies on lithium battery is powered by slavery

There is no such thing as ‘clean cobalt’, says modern slavery activist Siddharth Kara.

Harvard professor says every device that relies on lithium battery is powered by slavery

Harvard visiting professor and modern slavery activist Siddarth Kara has said that almost every lithium battery-powered tech device is powered by slavery in cobalt mines in the Congo.

Kara, who wrote Cobalt Red: How The Blood of The Congo Powers Our Lives, told podcast host Joe Rogan that there is no 'clean cobalt', a term which describes ethically mined cobalt.


The activist exposed the 'illegal' cobalt mining industry in the Congo in the recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience which went viral and has already garnered over one million views.

To prove his statements, the Harvard professor shared videos he took from mines in the Congo, which showed thousands of miners digging by hand.

"We can’t function on a day-to-day basis without cobalt, and three-fourths of the supply is coming out of the Congo. And it’s being mined in appalling, heart-wrenching, dangerous conditions," Kara, an adjunct lecturer at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and a visiting scientist at the Harvard School of Public Health, is reported to have said.

"By and large, the world doesn't know what's happening...I don’t think people are aware of how horrible it is."

He revealed that child labor and slavery are rampant in these mines which are mainly controlled by the Chinese.

Last year, in an op-ed for CNN, he explained that a child told him he used his hands to dig for heterogenite, the primary source of cobalt. The kid then sells it to 'buying houses' run by 'Chinese agents.'

According to Kara, those agents sell it to firms abroad thus a child labourer's product enters the formal supply chain.

"Before anyone knew what was happening, [the] Chinese government [and] Chinese mining companies took control of almost all the big mines and the local population has been displaced," said Kara, who is also a researcher, screenwriter, and activist on modern slavery.

"They dig in absolutely subhuman, gut-wrenching conditions for a dollar a day, feeding cobalt up the supply chain into all the phones, all the tablets, and especially electric cars."

According to Kara, Cobalt is used in lithium-ion batteries to maximize charge and stability. He added that the Congo is sitting on more cobalt than the rest of the world combined.

"Before anyone knew what was happening, [the] Chinese government [and] Chinese mining companies took control of almost all the big mines and the local population has been displaced," Kara told the podcast.

He pointed out that the pandemic has made matters worse for the country as 'legal mines' remained closed which paved the way for aggressive 'illegal' cobalt mining.

Kara has traveled to more than fifty countries to document the cases of several thousand slaves of all kinds in the past two decades. He has mapped global human trafficking networks, explored the perilous underground of trafficked sex slaves, and traced global supply chains of numerous commodities tainted by slavery and child labor. Kara advises several UN agencies and numerous governments on anti-slavery policy and law.

Previously, Kara was an investment banker at Merrill Lynch, then ran his own finance and M&A consulting firm.

US firms like Tesla and Apple have already committed to take action against slavery and violations of human rights in the cobalt supply chain.

Despite the Congo's well-known problems with child labour, the Biden administration recently reached an agreement with the country and Zambia to strengthen the green energy supply chain.

More For You

Trump

Trump said the suspect had been arrested earlier for 'terrible crimes,' including child sex abuse, grand theft auto and false imprisonment, but was released under the Biden administration because Cuba refused to take him back.

Getty Images

Trump says accused in Dallas motel beheading will face first-degree murder charge

US PRESIDENT Donald Trump has described Chandra Mouli “Bob” Nagamallaiah, the Indian-origin motel manager killed in Dallas, as a “well-respected person” and said the accused will face a first-degree murder charge.

Nagamallaiah, 50, was killed last week at the Downtown Suites motel by co-worker Yordanis Cobos-Martinez, a 37-year-old undocumented Cuban immigrant with a criminal history.

Keep ReadingShow less
Starmer Mandelson

Starmer talks with Mandelson during a welcome reception at the ambassador's residence on February 26, 2025 in Washington, DC.

Getty

Starmer under pressure from party MPs after Mandelson dismissal

PRIME MINISTER Keir Starmer is facing questions within the Labour party after the sacking of US ambassador Peter Mandelson.

Mandelson was removed last week after Bloomberg published emails showing messages of support he sent following Jeffrey Epstein’s conviction for sex offences. The dismissal comes just ahead of US president Donald Trump’s state visit.

Keep ReadingShow less
Nepal’s new leader pledges to act on Gen Z calls to end corruption

Officials greet newly-elected Prime Minister of Nepal's interim government Sushila Karki (R) as she arrives at the prime minister's office in Kathmandu on September 14, 2025. (Photo by PRABIN RANABHAT/AFP via Getty Images)

Nepal’s new leader pledges to act on Gen Z calls to end corruption

NEPAL’s new interim prime minister Sushila Karki on Sunday (14) pledged to act on protesters’ calls to end corruption and restore trust in government, as the country struggles with the aftermath of its worst political unrest in decades.

“We have to work according to the thinking of the Gen Z generation,” Karki said in her first address to the nation since taking office on Friday (12). “What this group is demanding is the end of corruption, good governance and economic equality. We will not stay here more than six months in any situation. We will complete our responsibilities and hand over to the next parliament and ministers.”

Keep ReadingShow less
UK secures £1.25bn US investment ahead of Trump’s visit

US president Donald Trump and UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer arrive at Trump International Golf Links on July 28, 2025 in Balmedie, Scotland. (Photo by Jane Barlow-WPA Pool/Getty Images)

UK secures £1.25bn US investment ahead of Trump’s visit

THE British government has announced over £1.25 billion ($1.69bn) in fresh investment from major US financial firms, including PayPal, Bank of America, Citigroup and S&P Global, ahead of a state visit by president Donald Trump.

The investment is expected to create 1,800 jobs across London, Edinburgh, Belfast and Manchester, and deepen transatlantic financial ties, the Department for Business and Trade said.

Keep ReadingShow less
Nearly 150,000 join anti-migrant protest in London as clashes erupt

Protesters wave Union Jack and St George's England flags during the "Unite The Kingdom" rally on Westminster Bridge by the Houses of Parliament on September 13, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Nearly 150,000 join anti-migrant protest in London as clashes erupt

MORE THAN 100,000 protesters marched through central London on Saturday (13), carrying flags of England and Britain and scuffling with police in one of the UK's biggest right-wing demonstrations of modern times.

London's Metropolitan Police said the "Unite the Kingdom" march, organised by anti-immigrant activist Tommy Robinson, was attended by nearly 150,000 people, who were kept apart from a "Stand Up to Racism" counter-protest attended by around 5,000.

Keep ReadingShow less