02:12 PM EST, 03/05/2024 (MT Newswires) -- A US appeals court on Tuesday affirmed a lower court's dismissal of a lawsuit accusing five US technology companies of participating in a venture that engaged in forced child labor in cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The plaintiffs said Apple ( AAPL ) , Google's ( GOOG ) parent company Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL), Dell Technologies ( DELL ) , Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Tesla (TSLA) buy cobalt from big international suppliers, whose subsidiaries "exploit and perpetuate informal mining," according to the court documents.

However, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that buying unspecified quantities of cobalt, a metal used in the production of lithium-ion batteries, through the global supply chain isn't a "participation in a venture" under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act.

"Although we conclude that the plaintiffs have standing to pursue their damages claims, they have failed to state a claim for relief," the court said in its ruling.

None of the companies immediately responded to requests for comment from MT Newswires.

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