Customers around the world flocked to Apple Stores on Friday to buy the iPhone 16 on launch day, but in more than a dozen cities, they were met with protests organized by current and former Apple employees.
Protesters held signs and banners saying Apple was “profiting from genocide” and called out the company. Cobalt Sourcing Landmines in the Democratic Republic of Congo Notorious dangerous working conditions, low wages, frequent use of child labor, and Human rights violations.
Apple says it doesn’t source minerals from mines where such conditions exist. That said The company said it has “challenges” in tracking its mineral supply chain. In 2022, this tracking will allow the company to Removed 12 suppliersCongo Government Recently Asked The company is investigating potential “blood minerals” in its supply chain.
Protesters also called on Apple to break its silence about the ongoing war in Gaza. It’s called genocide by some human rights experts.
The protests, which took place in 10 countries, were organised by Apple Against Apartheid, a group made up of around five current and 12 former Apple employees, mostly in retail roles at Apple stores.
Originally called Apples4Ceasefire, the group partnered with friends in Congo and local activist groups in cities around the world. Social media posts show protesters holding banners outside Apple stores in the Congo. Bristol, readLondon, Tokyo, BrusselsCape Town, AmsterdamMexico City, MontrealProtests were also held in Cardiff, Manchester, and Manchester United on Friday and Saturday, and in Cardiff. In the US, protests have taken place at Apple’s flagship store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, as well as in Palo Alto and Berkeley.
Many of these protests were attended by just a few people, often waving large banners or flags representing the Democratic Republic of the Congo or Palestine. Most of the protesters were not Apple employees.
The largest turnout was in Berlin, where more than 30 people took part in the protest. They chanted slogans from behind barricades and distanced themselves from the Apple store. Footage showed police herding protesters away and arresting a person wearing a kefir cap. Tariq Rauf, a leading figure in the anti-Apple apartheid movement, told WIRED that five protesters were arrested.
Raouf worked at an Apple store in Seattle for 12 years before he was fired in July. The reason for his firing was a “technical issue” that they believe “should have been a warning sign of wrongdoing.” They believe their firing was likely retaliation for publicly challenging the company about “anti-Palestinian bias and racism.” Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the protests or Raouf’s allegations.
“We want to get this to consumers and disrupt as much of their biggest day of the year as possible,” Rauch told WIRED. [them] It’s about how much revenue we can make on launch day, how many phones we can sell, and showing tangibly that there is a lot of support in these communities that they’re ignoring.”
