What is the REAL cost of your mobile phone? Global Investigation | Documentary
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- Опубліковано 17 сер 2022
- We bring exclusive footage from inside Chinese factories where scores of children are working long hours under arduous conditions. The multinationals claim they are doing all they can, but these shocking images say otherwise. In Africa, the mines that retrieve minerals essential to components in our smartphones are dangerous and unregulated. Injuries and deaths occur regularly amongst workers just desperate to support their families. Whilst in China the environmental damage has scarred the landscape, emptied a village and possibly caused severe illness among the population.
A mobile phone is sold every 57 seconds meaning that there are now more mobile phones on the planet than toothbrushes. We investigated the shameful secrets of the multinationals who produce our mobile phones. They are the big winners of the mobile revolution as their profits explode but what is the human and environmental cost in the production countries of China and the Congo?
We confront the major names in the smartphone industry with the realities that they would like to keep hidden.
This documentary was first released in 2014.
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"The problem with speaking truth to power is that it still just leaves you with the truth and them with the power." - Richard Wolf
Truth is POWER ! Words has power . That's where deception start with words . Walk in the light , so you won't stumble around in darkness . Be bless .
Amazing I never thought if it that way,thanks
Hit that nail on the head! The rich don't care about anyone beneath them😢
apower aspeaking in alogos isn't power speaking 1 in logos is power speaking :p
I watch this video with a pinch of salt as this is after all a western media from Europe. European and American media go out of their way to lie about things happening to push their narrative especially when they lie about China.
The greed of these companies is just insane. Rest in piece humanity 😢
What about the greed of the customer who BUYS a new phone every six months? Not culpable? 😂
Companies makes money if people buy products and depending on demand. So its our fault for sustaining this Companies. Stop buying and you stop and bunkrupt Companies, but it is impossible to do so as the world is addicted to the phones. So the suffering will continue, and rich just gona get richer
@@crypton_8l87 people should not need to investigate every single thing we buy before we buy it. this is why there are movements like this to investigate what is created for our consumption. you sound like a corporate shill, blaming the people for what they buy rather than how the profiteers make them.
it's like putting the blame of climate change onto us plebs for not recylcling our trash correctly, of for eating meat, when that is such an insignicant percentage of the problem.
the corporations want us to blame each other because they're just supplying our demand, while simultaneously encouraging that demand.
@@SilentTaljiGaming they create the demand through marketing
Our corporate masters need to be held to account for they are criminals.
And how do you intend to do that, considering that they also run/own the judicial system?
Together we are a force, separetely we are nothing against the Giant Corporations.
The masses of people hold all the aces this is something our corporate masters
Our corporate masters are worried about this.
exactly 😎👍 together we stand divided we fall.
54:00 The intense look of disdain and uneasiness of a man who knows the situation entirely, but chooses to line his pockets instead
Excellent reporting. I think many of us know about the child labor, and pollution involved with the electronics industry, however we choose to turn a blind eye. Shame on us. Your work is extremely important because it clearly highlights that we have the power to force the industry to make the necessary changes. I am grateful for your investigative journalist, i.e., your team took a huge risk. I will honor you effort by not buying a new phone for as long as possible.
I currently own an iPhone XS Max since 2018.
the issues are not so simple. so everyone stops buying phones and then the children have no more work and the problem is solved?
Boycot dont buy smartphones who didnt take human and environmental responsibility...
I've got a request into God that he deliver one of his Global Resets as soon as possible.
I bought a used smartphone in 2017. It's now started to show signs of age (it discharges very quickly; and unfortunately the battery can't be replaced) which is why I'm considering buying a new one in a year or so. Definitely something more durable and repairable this time.
@@VVayVVardput them children out of work
A corporation is deemed a person so no living person is held responsible the corporation pays a fine this unethical situation needs to be changed and corporate leaders need to be charged. Different rules for different fools.
A corporation is a lifeless entity.
One of the best documentary I have come across in utube. Outstanding
After watching this, smartphones aren't the only issue, so it seems. 😔
it's the price of advancements in technology in general.
Question is, when do we draw the line?
Upgrades to newer models look so ridiculously criminal now
not only
to the people affected
but mostly how it's affecting the earth right after watching this most eye opening documentary. Thank you.
The conundrum is we've been moving at pace where new tech is presented before we explore our current tech to full potential, kind of stepping on our own feet for advancement
It's as usual, nang nang
The almighty will ruin those who are ruining the earth.
The only thing we can do as consumers is to change our own behaviour. (Obviously, voting and politics doesn't help much if laws are not/cannot be enforced.) Use your old smartphone until it is completely nonfunctional. I try to not buy stuff at all (there are many items you rarely use and which you could borrow instead of buying). When I need to buy something (from clothes to tech), I try to buy second hand. Finally, when there is no other option than buying something new, I try to get as many information as possible on the various companies that offer the product. If possible, I chose the most ethical product. I also try to contact companies and ask inconvenient questions when considering to buy something. Just to make sure they know that people don't want blood on their hands and don't want to destroy the planet by buying some product.
When it's too late
True journalism at its best. Thank you for educating all of us.
Thanks for your oustanding reportage on this human shame.
This is so absolutely amazing … Thank you for exposing them, his response was clear as day!!!
bill goat???? yes he is a child......
It said the documentary was released back in 2014 . So the question is : what has happened to that factory since then ?
Thank you so much for your stellar reporting through this documentary! Amazing work!!!
I salute this man efforts to reveal truth with all the risks he took. Respect and support from me brothers and sisters
I feel for the poor miners working in those squalid conditions... 🥵
Thank you for sharing ,great reporting and awareness! All industries and governments should be accountable for such actions and damages ! Where is the Human Rights?
Human rights and other "humane" rights (such as gender and LGBTQ equality) are never a concern when the ability to have food on the table isn't guaranteed.
It's like when someone also use the shower on the other toilet where the hot water suddenly gets colder. Not a problem when you don't even have a water heater to begin with. Where I'm from, less then 5% of people has water heaters.
Human rights in the countries full of slave labor where trying not to work as slave equals hunger and death? Not a concern by the longest of the long shots.
Stop using these
God bless you for doing this investigation and exposing this disgusting crime against humanity.
Population density self regulation
Isn't it ironic that the devices that are created in order to make us more connected, create a huge disconnect between the people profiting and the workers at the bottom.
Respect to the team who rick their lives to expose this wickedness.
Max respect to the camera man for going down that hole just to film. God richly bless you all
This makes me sick. Its heartbreaking to know how some people live so high while they walk on the backs of slave labor.
It's none of your business.
All of this comes down to one thing GREED!!!GREED, GREED, GREED, GREED, GREED !!!!!
The western world right at the forefront of it.
I have a cheap flip phone that I only use when I'm traveling or for emergencies. I can't stand mobile phones.
I was talked into the one that I have because I was in between homes at the time. It's sad what the world has turned into.
Patricia how are you
So now the kids won't be allowed out the factory?
this world blows my mind every day. Ive imagined it is bad. the child labor is the least bothersome issue you all uncovered. the greed of these companies is just gut wrenching. Thank you for Putting your neck on the line to do your best to uncover these issues!
This was excellent!!! Eye-opening & impactful at great risk to the journalists making the clip. I'll definitely be watching this again.
Imagine how the batteries for EVs are made also.
I'm so impressed with your sacrifice over the documentary, you've done a really great job. At least, you've done your own part! ❤️
As a tech guy, i understand that this is an old documentary, still with the rise of the electric car those problems are going to get worse...
As for the tech industry i doubt that it has taken any serious steps ( although i wish it has ).
JAVA IS DOING AN IMPRESSIVE JOB! From the choice of subject through its methodic journalistic approach, to its brave & bold journalists! Keep it up. You shall inevitably become an international reference. Already my young friends in government positions in West Africa are hinged on your vlog Documentaries. They are certainly sowing the seeds, germinating for local governmental lobbies & for bearing the desired just fruits in the not distant future.
Ive never owned a smart phone but its getting hard to live in the U.S. without one.
This is a good documentary to add to more reasons cell phones cause health problems in many ways; not just the screen light, orthopaedic problems & EMF exposures; but also from the manufacturing harm to the exploited workers. The manufacturers charge the end-user a big price tag to line their deep pockets even more and underpay & exploit their workers 😢
I quit the cell phone craze years back and guess what, absolutely zero withdrawal symptoms, lol
True,cell phones can cause health issues in so many ways to
exploited workers& others,it's very scary.
You are absolutely right. I am thinking of buying a 'latest " RealMe C55" smart phone, China made. But now,knowing the child labor, I will decline my desire of buying a new phone. 😢
@@ms43092 how are you
The problem is that China is the biggest manufacturing hub of the world. Being one of the major members of the WTO American and European Mobile phone brands are among its biggest client. Why are they singling out China brands? If you can not compete on sales do not resort to mudslinging rumor mongering
Keep phone for far longer than they expect you to. Don’t get every new model. I know that this is simplistic but we can do it.
Absolutely 👍
I keep my phone for 5 years before upgrade. Been doing this for 20 years.
🙌🏼 yes!
And they easy to repair to extend time you use them. Easy to replace the battery, screen and we can all reduce buying new model too soon.
Just don't buy an Apple because they go obsolete fast
The new game now is called forced obsolescence. Through up dates of software they make keeping our phones for long periods impossible
Excellent investigative reporting! Thank you for exposing human greed. Please keep reporting, I am hopeful things will change for the workers.
I will use my current LG phone until it's dead, maybe get the battery changed in between and then exclusively switch to either Fairphone or Shiftphone.
Not only because they get their materials from responsible sources & do charity but also because the phones are built to be user-repairable. (plus they're rooted factorywise so completely customizable Android OS)
I'm sick of losing phones because the battery is dead after 5+ years or it falls down and the display change costs me more than the initial costs of the phone.
Or maybe that's just what they tell you to hook you in
maybe now you will be able to get 1 child fired and unable to go to school now and thus getting out of the cycle
unfortunately my employer doesn't allow rooted phones for official apps, so I can't even do that.
MILLIONS THANKS TO THOSE WHO HAVE REVEALED THIS TO THE WORLD..❤
This people are just so wicked and so selfish. As Michael Jackson has said: they don't really care about us!!!
Brutal and spine-chilling.
This WORLD we live in really makes me f*ckin' sick.. People can't even afford to live in this life anymore 👎
Terrific reporting, thank you for educating me and I'll be praying for all these people daily from now on. I think from now on I won't be "willy nilly upgrading my mobile" trying to get the newest model out and instead just "nurse" my mobile for as long as I can until it ceases to work considering people are dying to make all mobile phones and they are suffering so badly. I don't accept that these people should be suffering for my and other peoples benefit etc.
Will u stop using these things
@@bobwoww8384 yeah.. rightio mate, like I'm just going to cease using my mobile phone all together.. 🥴 I already said In a previous post / comment I was sorry about this and will concentrate on "not upgrading my mobile etc. Unless it brakes" so I keep to a minimum my impact with this situation worldwide. I don't really think me, being one person going without a mobile altogether is the answer to this situation as I don't really think your looking at this situation with "wide eyes". Anyway dunno why I'm replying to you as your comment is so ridiculous and pompous. 🤔
Gr8 work. James Bond of investigative journalism.
The fact that you have at least 2 or more phones while watching this video is astonishing...
One can only wonder how the poor shareholders are doing. Oh yeah they're buying another superyacht
This is a great documentary. Thanks for the time spent to out this together 🤝
He just grins while he is told of deaths
11:00 none of these are children. Some could be even 18. But come on. Those who are actually under 14, faces are blurred, so we can't really see.
Note that children in France 14-16 can do "light work", which would definitely include cleaning phone screens. In the UK, it is 13-16. Hours are limited, and night-time shifts are excluded.
Under 16s are NOT allowed in China. You report to the Ministry of HR and Socially Security for them to check and fine those companies. Of course you can't bring in a camera team to check for yourself. No factory would allow that.
But I am not sure what this would achieve. The factory would just fire everybody under 16. There's just a small number of them. It's not like the factory would collapse.
But I'm thinking, have we really improved the lives of these 13-16 year olds, who now don't have a job, and still don't have the money to go to school. Did we just make them starve for 3 weeks looking for another worse paying job? Maybe they'll be running heavy machinery, or this new job involves heavy lifting, more danger, but at least aren't linked to any exported products, so we don't care?
Well I had a job at Kroger food store @ 15 I’m in the USA. But any younger then 15 can be a concern.
I just saw your investigative documentary..... Now i know how smartphone are made.,,i feel sad...for the sacrife of their life....how they extracted the rare elements....How dangerous and risky... And not even one worker in congo.. owns a smartphone ...
Great investigation, I just subscribed 😊
thank you for such detailed and informative documentary on mobile phone. we are all part of this crime, but I think we can start from using our phones for longer time. resist our temptation to purchase the latest model. Refuse is the first step!
This is Big Tech no morals at all.
9 years old - this would need an update.
The industrial need to do whatever necessary to find a synthetic replacement for these minerals. This is unacceptable
You sound like you just come out the woodwork and just realised what's happening, tip of the iceberg this. Look at everything you possess that you love to enjoy. Look again at how it began it's journey before it arrived on your hands
@@nyakwarObat yep.. our entire economies are built upon human suffering and exploitation. The gold trade, cobalt mining, sulfur mining… throw a dart and hit another one. The palm oil industry, farming, clothing manufacturing, oil… the more money/profit to be had, the more exploitation you will find.
Seriously conflict minerals were being protested back in 2008… and it wasn’t a “new” issue at that time. These big money interests have successfully silenced this conversation for nearly 20 years.. they silence anything that gets in their way.
@@kelly-bo-belly the one part you are wrong is saying they silenced it for 20 years. Way longer than that
@@BBSr-q2w "a believer" someone who can't admit they don't know then jump on the bandwagon of believe to compensate for their ignorance
@@nyakwarObat you're best off just staying in grandma's basement homie
I've owned and used the same smartphone for four years now, and only bought it because the one I owned before was stollen from me, so I'd probably still be using it today if I still had it. It definitely shows its "age", but I'll be using it for as long as it works, even though I have more than enough money to buy a new better one. But I choose not to. People who buy a new smartphone every year, the newest model, the latest hottest gadget, which is merely an iteration of the previous model, are borderline insane.
One way of support is via lessening the demand. However, as in my case, no choice no matter how much you want to keep the same phone bec every 4 to 5 years the battery has to be replaced. Since it is built in and sealed internally, one is prevented from replacement. So no choice but to replace it with a new phone. Perhaps if you can advocate the previous features of being able to replace the battery side by side with customer clamor of being able to change battery, then demand could dwindle subtly a little. But that said, which manufacturers would want demand to dwindle? Unless that battery replacement service is available, that could be a very good partial solution to your multi million challenge. The final question who will tie the bell?
replacing a battery, even a sealed one, isn't actually that hard...
Think regulators are already moving in that direction ("right to repair" in the EU), but you're right, in most of the world, regulators don't care. And UK's Brexit rhetoric is indirectly a snub towards EU's regulatory care.
I wonder how the working condition has improved since the time this video filmed? It’s sad that we know all those bad things still happen but can not do anything. The phone brands earn so much profit from the sacrifice of all those poor people. What a shame! This should be condemned!! All those brands should take some actions.
Brilliant. Thankyou.
Thanks again
This video won't stop anyone from buying a new phone
Thanks again fantastic job guys
Thanks for sharing this video with us, I appreciate it
Thanks for sharing ❤
Thanks for the update
Such an evil world we live in..
No, the world is beautiful. It is the human animal that creates evil. The world will be here when we are all gone.
A world without human animals, life would be safe and peaceful.
The most vicious animal on earth is a human being.
It's proven every day.
In as guilty as the rest cause I have a smart phone.But mine is over 8 years old.
What Americans don't realize...these children may not have food or shelter any other way . At one time that was true in this and other Eurocountries
Very great investigation. Heartbreaking for the people who lost their lives inside the tunnel. You are so brave to go inside this tunnel and made the video. Thanks for showing the world how painful process of this mobile phone which we are using at the moment.we are paying good amount to these companies to buy our mobiles but I hope these blood sucker multinational company do something for this poor people.
It's economics. Supply and demand. Without smartphone and other electronics generating demand for their labor, it's simple to deduce that they will be even worse off.
Of course they won’t. They only care about their profit margins. They are plain evil.
Highly commendable journalism! Thank you
The mining in the Congo is terrible. I saw another documentary about mining minerals for electric vehicles. Such a shame.
It's our phones, food, precious metals, minerals, vehicles, energy, pollution, technology... What can we really do?
Life is not a bed of roses. Sometimes our good intentions also produce negative results to some people which will remain in the same situation even after reformation in system. It doesn't mean that we stop raising voice but every member of society should plan how to tackle their issues. There is no easy solutions available. Everyone from door keeper to head of government has own challenges and we have to sort out. If we disturb one person in society it will generate it's consequences and it's intensity depends on the position and status of that person acquired by his or her efforts. Responsible criticism and cooperation will bring changes but we should be careful while bringing swift changes as we can bring chaos in the system.
Don't these kids ever go to school if they are there for 10 hours per day as the said? Shocking.
You guys are amazing with your report❤❤
Wow 😯 😢Kudos to you and to your team for reporting this atrocity but we can only try to hold on to our older phones until it dies unfortunately 😢😓
Mobile phones are costly to the public despite of cheaper labour cost. The labour cost is very low being manufactured in China. Taiwan and India
The children, the miners, the disadvantaged workers😢
Makes your stomach hurt when it starts, sick when it’s over-
The real thing is you are using right now, the devices we are speaking on- now what
Way to deliver the clear message. We see that across ALL tech, EV’s and Solar Storage Batteries; it’s the same evils/problems. Modern civilization continues to produce in striking opposition to very basic facts of human life requirements. Water, Air, Soil, Food.
Good documentary that delves beyond the beauty, glamor and prestige of high end phones. As expected, profit always tips the balance in favor of tech companies at a costly price. The skeletons in their closet, now exposed, we continue to ask what companies and government can do to improve the status of the poor in countries that ensure a good supply chain for these tech companies.
It should never be at the expense of cheap and dangerous human labor especially involving illegal child labor. At the end of the day, it is very sad to realize that what you hold in your hand involved much sacrifice and even lose of precious human lives. 😢
Congo is in perpetual turmoil, not to talk of incessant wars. Yet Tantalum is mined there 😢.
It's criminal how much they charge for mobile phones considering the working conditions of the people assembling them.
U r a brave heart.. ❤ hatts off brother to uncover these truths. Great piece of journalism. Kudos !!
Does it surprise you how complicit we are after the last few years?
Put your phone on silent while you watch this.
But I’m watching it on my……phone lol
Foxconn, the biggest mobile factory in China is owned and operated from Taiwan. If they don't produce in China, it would be just another Asian country like Vietnam in which they would just bring forward their similar abhorrent practices. Are you not going to highlight that?
I keep my phone for years and as long as it work and gets updated. My cell was bought almost 4 years ago.I heard that is at the end of upgrades.I will still use it since then.
Great reporting guys.keep strong👍
More phones sold than toothbrushes!!!? Gross
'This documentary was first released in 2014.' It's much better if this claim is included at the beginning of the video, not just in the description. 2014 was the year of Iphone 6. 2022 was the year of Iphone 14.
I like this documentary but please tell me, don’t we have such conditions in the West? This a genuine question as am personally from not far from this coltan mine in DRC, and the likes of copper mines in Zambia, where we are exploited for pennies and the sole beneficiaries are Western multinationals.
Again, do we have similar conditions in the West where safety aspects are ignored for cooperate profits and otherwise? If you think NOT, think about the FDA regulations on fast foods, think about the appalling conditions of the railroads and trains and the lobbying to ignore concerns, and many more….
conditions can be bad in some cases, but definitely not this bad. in America, the solutions to these problems is to sue. at least the courts seem to do something (even though the legal process can be made difficult by big corporations). in places like the EU and UK the democratic system seems to work much better in the sense that people can lobby their representatives, and they are guaranteed to get it to the highest level (parliament) if enough attention is received on online campaigns. doesn't mean there will be any guaranteed result, but they can't hide it at least.
Yes we do have these conditions in the West.
Not exactly the same though, You won't be buried alive in the mine ..
However factories and warehouses treat You like the slave labour and in return You will be left with ruined health for life without competition.
Those who say we don't have this in the west, simply have never worked in the factories and warehouses .. they work in the offices in the suit.
We don't have kids working in the factories.
To answer at Your question in short: Yes the whole world is exploited one way or another.
Some got it better and some got it worst.
Not just mobile phone l guess we will have to stop using many things. Batteries :(
I live near a village with a dangerous goldmine in Uganda, the ugly reality is people working such dangerous jobs earn decent incomes than most peasants so every energetic young boy dreams of getting a job in the mines, they have accepted the risks,so my point is boycotting the companies is a knee jerk reaction.the problem is more complex.the local government tried to close the mine due to safety concerns but the workers themselves threatened the local councillor's life.
if the contracts paid more, there could build safer mines, but of course they will not as long as the workers do not protest and the government doesn't pass laws as well. every layer of middleman makes far more profit than the small additional cost required to make the mines safer.
I kept my old phone for 5 years to reduce demand for exactly these reasons. I did replace the screen myself, after I dropped it accidentally. It still worked fine but, but, the switch to 5G meant some older frequencies the phone needed were shut off/repurposed for 5G. It eventually stopped working during the pandemic, 1 hour after I’d leave a Wi-Fi network it couldn’t find a signal. I’d reboot the phone and it’s work for another 30 min. I tried it on 3 different networks, all said they supported the phone, except the issues continued. So after 5 yrs (in 2020) I had to replace it. It’s obsolete as a cell phone but still good for many other tasks.
My wife's 9 year old phone still works - unfortunately only after stripping down the OS and putting a fresh "lighter" version, so some features don't work, but the battery is fine. My previous phone lasted 5 years with one battery replacement 3.5 years in - and my current phone is already beginning to lose battery life after just a year of usage. Not sure why.
We are living and growing at too fast pace. We end up doing much harm to everyone else and the environment. This problem may well be true in all the commerce and industries. We are everyone responsible. As long as there will be so much demand, people and environment will suffer. And some few will continue to benefit. I do feel the consumer ends up doing the most harm although out of ignorance. Thanks to the journalists really risking their everything to open our eyes. 🙏
Year of investigations to expose giants from your investigate reporting. Big thumbs up to you and your team 🎉🎉🎉
Great job
I hate smart phones and refuse to own one. Makes it easier cause I am older and it's excepted when I say I am computer illiterate and don't own a smart phone, usually it affords me old style personal service at most government departments that are turning all services to on line services. I use the most basic and cheapest mobile phone I can buy. This is not progress but another form of control of people in too many ways non of which really help people.
“After hour of negotiations…” fixed it, you meant “after 1 hour of bribes”…..
31:14
If it's needed for smart phones then doesn't that mean every phone manufacturer on the planet uses it?! So go after everyone!
Eye opening documentary.
Ingat kayo.
More power. 💪
Continue your job...very good and the best.....to your team.
Great investigation