3 questions the BBC must answer about its Apple ‘abuse’

The BBC’s Panorama team slammed Apple partner, Pegatron’s working practises last night. Apple seems furious at the UK state-funded broadcaster’s claims.

‘Deeply offended’

Based on undercover reports from Apple manufacturing partner, Pegatron factories, Panorama claimed Apple “routinely” breaks its promises to improve working conditions.

Apple vigorously denies this. 

In an email to UK staff this morning, Apple senior vice president of operations Jeff Williams said both he and Apple CEO, Tim Cook, were “deeply offended”.

On Panorama’s implication that Apple isn’t improving working conditions, he said: “Let me tell you, nothing could be further from the truth.”

Also read: Apple’s 2014 in 33 stats

Verite agrees

Dan Viederman of Verite, an organization that works to improve working conditions and eliminate human rights violations, agreed — but not with the BBC: “I think Apple is doing as much, if not more than any other major electronics company,” he told the Daily Mail.

Apple says it will investigate all Panorama’s claims: “We take all allegations seriously, and we investigate every claim. We know there are a lot of issues out there, and our work is never done. We will not rest until every person in our supply chain is treated with the respect and dignity they deserve,” said Williams.

Apple’s response hints at increasing bias on the part a BBC which is no stranger to accusations of bias. Williams says Apple shared “facts and perspective” on its human rights commitments with Panorama, but these were “missing from the programme.”

Apple accepts it has to go further: “The reality is that we find violations in every audit we have ever performed, no matter how sophisticated the company we’re auditing. We find problems, we drive improvement, and then we raise the bar,” Williams said.

China Labor Watch this year identified two such problems at Catcher and Jabil Circuit. It is likely we will gain insight into these claims in the next FLA Apple report and in Apple’s annual Supplier Responsibility Report.

Panorama also accused Apple of using tin mined by Indonesian children.

The BBC could not prove this, but implied it all the same.

Implication is a game anyone can play: Panorama was once ordered to apologize when it implied footage of children making clothes were part of Primark’s supply chain and breached the BBC’s editorial guidelines again this year. Does this imply that Panorama has ceased to be objective?

The objective truth is that proven facts are broadcastable, implications should not be and the child tin miner claims are emotive and unproven.

Apple says it wants to help build a safe and legitimate tin mining ecosystem in Indonesia and is within the Indonesian Tin Working Group of firms who claim to be trying to stop human rights abuses in the supply chain.

I think Panorama would have a stronger case if its show had answered these questions:

1. Why it failed to articulate Apple’s “facts and perspective”?
2. Which other consumer electronic firms (if any) it worked with when placing reporters inside Pegatron?
3. Is Panorama investigating conditions for other companies in the consumer electronics supply chain? If not, why not?

The first questions are particularly important in the event (as Apple suggests) the claims made reflected a situation at Pegatron that has now been fixed. If Apple has indeed addressed the problem and the Panorama team had the chance to verify (or otherwise) this, then why did it fail to mention this?

I can see Apple attempting to clarify its position in the courts.

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