According to a recent article on Yahoo’s Game site, Sony is the cause of a technological equivalent to the diamond trade that has caused the slaughter and oppression of many in the African Congo region.

Why would Sony green light this horrible crime against humanity? According to the bleeding heart information site Toward Freedom one of the ingredients needed is an “unrefined metallic ore, coltan. After processing, coltan turns into a powder called tantalum, which is used extensively in a wealth of western electronic devices including cell phones, computers and, of course, game consoles.” Now common sense may lead you to the idea that Sony is more than likely just one of many electronic manufacturers which would use this powder. You may also do a little digging and realize that it is mined from other places that apparently do not use the equivalent of slave labor from the locals.

But Toward Freedom has determined that Sony’s Playstation 2, with it’s huge demand and short supply, was the catalyst that:

“prompted Rwandan military groups and western mining companies to plunder hundreds of millions of dollars worth of the rare metal, often by forcing prisoners-of-war and even children to work in the country’s coltan mines.”

“Kids in Congo were being sent down mines to die so that kids in Europe and America could kill imaginary aliens in their living rooms,” said Ex-British Parliament Member Oona King.

Sony (like many other electronic giants) has since stated that they actively work to avoid purchasing the material from that region, although researcher David Barouski says that it would be statistically impossible to avoid it completely.

My thoughts on this are simple… who cares? It is not Sony’s responsibility to police or govern the local mining companies that happen to provide a raw material to another company which refines it, to another company that turns it into the final piece that they put in their products. That is what their local police and government are for. And if those two bodies are corrupt then the locals should grow a pair and revolt like many other civilizations have throughout history. I’m all for a global social responsibility to an extent, but I just don’t think we need to shed a tear for every injustice that occurs, or in this case happened several years ago. Maybe Sony should release a free game to build awareness on the PSNetwork, get Leo DiCap’ to do the voice for the main character and make everyone feel a little more humanitarian at the end of the day.