A new report claims that Apple's suppliers in China are discriminating against ethnic minorities, telling them not to apply for jobs in the company's supply chain. According to The Information, ads "explicitly" stated that members of minority ethnic groups were not to Apple, one advert for an iPhone cover glass manufacturer stating "Tibetans, Uyghurs, Hui, Yi, Dongxiang from Tibet or Xinjiang regions aren't accepted." The report says positions explicitly stated that the work was to be carried out for Apple. By contrast, the report says some suppliers will accept workers from "government labor programs" because they received special benefits as a result:

An investigation found that Apple’s suppliers participated in labor programs suspected of being part of China's alleged genocide against Uyghurs. The newly uncovered evidence stands in contrast to Apple's statements that it hasn't found evidence of forced labor

Several Apple suppliers may have used forced labor in China, according to The Information. Working with two human rights groups, the publication identified seven companies that supplied products or services to Apple and supported forced labor programs, according to statements made by the Chinese government. The programs target the country’s Muslim minority population, particularly Uyghurs living in Xinjiang.

A major Chinese supplier of consumer electronics components, Lens Technology, has been accused of using forced-labor Uighur workers from the predominantly Muslim region of Xinjiang, China, according to a report from the Tech Transparency Project (TTP) shared with The Verge.

Apple wants to water down key provisions of the bill, which would hold U.S. companies accountable for using Uighur forced labor, according to two congressional staffers.

The United States has added 11 more Chinese companies into its entity list for their alleged involvement in repressing Uyghur Muslims and other Muslim ethnic minorities within China, effectively banning them from purchasing US technology without a licence.