Apple has been the target of a series of lawsuits over minerals sourced from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The original federal case, Doe v. Apple, was dismissed by the D.C. Circuit in March 2024. Since then, the Apple Congo cobalt lawsuit landscape has shifted to two active fronts: a November 2025 consumer-deception suit filed in Washington, D.C., and a criminal complaint under investigation in Belgium. A parallel French complaint was dismissed in February 2025.
The 2019 Federal Case and Why It Was Dismissed
On December 16, 2019, International Rights Advocates filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on behalf of sixteen pseudonymous plaintiffs, former child cobalt miners and the families of children killed or severely injured in mining accidents in the southern DRC. The defendants were Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, Dell, and Tesla. One plaintiff, John Doe 1, was paralyzed at fifteen at a site operated by a Glencore subsidiary; James Doe 1 died at seventeen in a tunnel collapse.1Justia. John Doe 1 v. Apple Inc., No. 21-7135
The complaint argued that the five companies knowingly benefited from child and forced labor in the cobalt supply chain running through Glencore, Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, and Eurasian Resources Group. The core legal theory relied on the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, which allows victims of forced labor to sue anyone who “knowingly benefits” from “participation in a venture” they knew or should have known involved trafficking. Plaintiffs added common-law claims for unjust enrichment, negligent supervision, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.2ClassAction.org. Doe et al v. Apple Inc. et al Complaint
The district court dismissed the case on November 2, 2021, and the D.C. Circuit affirmed on March 5, 2024. The appeals court held that buying an unspecified amount of cobalt through a global supply chain does not, on its own, make a company a participant in an unlawful venture under the TVPRA. Purchases from the cobalt suppliers were arms-length commercial transactions, the court said, not the kind of shared enterprise with common purpose, shared profits and risks, or direct control that the statute requires. The judges distinguished earlier cases where defendants had provided direct, continuous support to wrongdoers, such as running a motel where trafficking occurred.3FindLaw. John Doe 1 v. Apple Inc.
The court also rejected the plaintiffs’ request for an injunction, calling it “entirely speculative” that an order directed at the tech companies would improve conditions in Congolese mines when the direct perpetrators, the local mining subsidiaries and labor brokers, were not parties.1Justia. John Doe 1 v. Apple Inc., No. 21-7135 A 2024 New York University Law Review analysis argued that courts have applied the “participation in a venture” standard far more narrowly in international supply-chain cases than in domestic ones, effectively shielding multinationals from labor-abuse claims overseas.4New York University Law Review. TVPRA and International Supply Chains
The November 2025 Consumer Deception Lawsuit
On November 25, 2025, International Rights Advocates filed a new suit against Apple in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. This time the case is not federal and not built on the TVPRA. It relies on the District of Columbia Consumer Protection Procedures Act, alleging that Apple deceives customers by marketing itself as an ethical company while its supply chain remains tied to child labor, forced labor, and armed conflict in the DRC.5International Rights Advocates. International Rights Advocates v. Apple, Inc.
The complaint names three Chinese smelters, Ningxia Orient, JiuJiang JinXin, and Jiujiang Tanbre, alleging they processed coltan smuggled through Rwanda after armed groups seized mines in the eastern DRC.6Reuters. US Group Sues Apple Over Congo Conflict Minerals It cites the University of Nottingham Rights Lab’s August 2025 Blood Batteries study, which surveyed 1,431 artisanal miners and found that 36.8% met the criteria for forced labor and 9.2% for child labor, with average daily income of $3.28.7University of Nottingham. Blood Batteries It also challenges Apple’s claim that 99% of the cobalt in its batteries comes from recycled sources, alleging Apple’s accounting allows conflict-zone ore to be mixed with recycled material.
The suit seeks an injunction against what it calls deceptive marketing, plus legal costs. It does not seek monetary damages or class certification.8Al Jazeera. US Group Sues Apple Over DR Congo Conflict Minerals The case is pending.
The DRC Government’s Criminal Complaints in Europe
The DRC opened a separate front in Europe. In September 2023, President Felix Tshisekedi commissioned the law firm Amsterdam and Partners to investigate whether Apple’s supply chain was tainted by minerals looted from the eastern DRC.9Al Jazeera. Why Has DRC Filed Criminal Charges Against Apple Over Conflict Minerals In April 2024, the DRC’s lawyers sent formal questions to Tim Cook and Apple’s French subsidiaries. Apple did not respond, according to the legal team.10Amsterdam & Partners. Lawyers for Democratic Republic of the Congo Obtain New Evidence as Apple Stays Silent
On December 16 and 17, 2024, lawyers acting for the DRC’s justice minister filed criminal complaints against Apple subsidiaries in France and Belgium, accusing the company of laundering conflict minerals, engaging in deceptive commercial practices, and covering up war crimes.11Le Monde. DRC Files Lawsuits Accusing Apple of Covering Up War Crimes
On February 18, 2025, the Paris public prosecutor’s office dismissed the French complaint, stating the allegations were “not sufficiently well-founded” and suggesting the DRC contact a different office with jurisdiction over war crimes. The DRC’s lawyers called the ruling a “very partial dismissal” and said they would challenge it at the Paris Court of Appeal.12RFI. Paris Prosecutor Dismisses Case Against Apple Over DRC Conflict Minerals The Belgian complaint remains under investigation, with an investigating magistrate assigned to the case.6Reuters. US Group Sues Apple Over Congo Conflict Minerals
What the Lawsuits Say About the Supply Chain
The DRC produces roughly 70% of the world’s cobalt. A 2023 U.S. Department of Labor study estimated that between 67,000 and 80,000 adult cobalt workers in the DRC experience forced labor, roughly 78% of those surveyed, and found that children worked at two-thirds of artisanal mining sites. Sixty-three percent of workers reported being hurt or sickened by their work, with injury rates reaching 72% at artisanal sites.13U.S. Department of Labor. Forced Labor in Cobalt Mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo A UNICEF estimate cited by Amnesty International put the number of children working in southern DRC mines at approximately 40,000 as of 2014, some as young as seven, working up to twelve hours a day for one to two dollars.14Amnesty International. This Is What We Die For
The 2025 case leans on what has happened at the Rubaya mines in North Kivu, which produce about 15% of the world’s tantalum. In April 2024, the Rwandan-backed M23 rebel group seized these mines. UN estimates cited by Global Witness suggest M23 has collected roughly $800,000 per month from taxing coltan production since May 2024, with over 1,400 tonnes of coltan smuggled from Rubaya to Rwanda between May and October 2024. Once in Rwanda, the smuggled coltan is mixed with domestic ore and tagged by the ITSCI traceability scheme as Rwandan product. Official Rwandan coltan exports in 2025 were more than 2.5 times higher than in 2021.15Global Witness. Who Buys Rwanda’s Smuggled Coltan
Global Witness reported that products from the implicated smelters may have reached Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Amazon, and Sony, and that the Responsible Minerals Initiative’s auditing process found the identified smelters “compliant” despite the documented conflict links.15Global Witness. Who Buys Rwanda’s Smuggled Coltan
Apple’s Position
Apple has denied responsibility across every proceeding. The company has called the allegations “baseless” and said there is “no reasonable basis” to conclude its smelters or refiners finance armed groups in the DRC.6Reuters. US Group Sues Apple Over Congo Conflict Minerals In a December 2024 statement following the European criminal complaints, Apple said it had instructed suppliers to suspend sourcing of tin, tantalum, tungsten, and gold from the DRC and Rwanda because the escalating conflict made independent auditing impossible.12RFI. Paris Prosecutor Dismisses Case Against Apple Over DRC Conflict Minerals
The company says it requires suppliers to follow the industry’s strongest sourcing standards and that 99% of the cobalt in its batteries comes from recycled sources, with 76% of all cobalt in its devices recycled in 2024.6Reuters. US Group Sues Apple Over Congo Conflict Minerals In a July 2021 hearing on the federal case, lawyers for the tech defendants argued their clients were merely “buying cobalt” and lacked a sufficient relationship with suppliers to bear liability for what happened inside mines. Microsoft separately stated in 2020 that it “does not tolerate child labour in our supply chain” and called the claims “without merit.”16International Rights Advocates. Cobalt Case
Why the Legal Theories Keep Changing
Each new filing reflects the limits of the last. The TVPRA path closed at the D.C. Circuit because the court read “participation in a venture” to exclude ordinary commodity purchases through layered supply chains. The 2025 complaint sidesteps that problem by suing under a consumer protection statute, arguing not that Apple participated in forced labor but that it misrepresents its sourcing to buyers. The European criminal route pursues a different theory again, framing the conduct as money laundering and deceptive commercial practice.
Existing disclosure rules have not filled the gap. Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Act requires publicly traded U.S. companies to disclose whether they use tin, tantalum, tungsten, or gold from the DRC or neighboring countries and to conduct due diligence if so. A 2025 Government Accountability Office report found that in 2023, an estimated 62% of companies reported they could not determine with certainty whether their conflict minerals came from the DRC region, and concluded the rule “has not helped to reduce violence in eastern DRC.”17U.S. Government Accountability Office. Peace and Security Congo Has Not Improved Conflict Minerals Disclosure Rule18European Commission. Conflict Minerals Regulation19Resources for the Future. Corporate Due Diligence, Auto Industry, and Battery Supply Chains
Global demand for cobalt has tripled since 2010 according to Amnesty International and is projected to keep rising with electric vehicle and data center growth.20Amnesty International. DRC Cobalt and Copper Mining for Batteries Leading to Human Rights Abuses For now, the active pieces of the Apple Congo cobalt litigation are the D.C. consumer protection case and the Belgian criminal investigation, with the French complaint on appeal.