Child labor let minors be employed in various jobs around the world illegally, without knowledge or education about the dangerous conditions they are working in. It also takes away the childhood that they should have due to working at an early age.  According to the ILO, about 160 million kids or about 1 in ten kids worldwide are involved in child labor and 22,000 of them die every year. This deprives them of their youth and forces them to work just to receive little or no pay at all. Many of them drop out of school or do not receive proper education. One reason that makes it easier for children to be targeted is because globally, around 237 million children do not have a birth certificate, which makes them easier to smuggle or be victims of human trafficking. In one country in particular, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, employs more than 40% of their children, mostly mining cobalt which is used in batteries in devices and electric cars. This is where the responsibility of the tech companies comes in. Some of the effects of cobalt on the human body include: pneumonia, increased red blood cell count, heart damage and more. (“Share of Children in Employment vs. GDP per Capita”)

By signing this petition, you are making sure technology production companies need to guarantee that the contractors and the suppliers will make working conditions more equitable and acceptable in human conditions. The companies should also make sure that the jobs are safe and sustainable to the children and their families so that their health, protection and education are ensured. 

Sources:

https://www.ilo.org/ipec/facts/lang--en/index.htm
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/incidence-of-child-labour-vs-gdp-per-capita