For the first time! Temu is sued by a US state

Temu faced a class action lawsuit in Canada not long ago, and now it is being sued in Arkansas, USA . It can be said that "one wave has not yet settled when another wave comes."

Foreign media reported that Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin claimed that Temu violated the Deceptive Trade Practices Act and the Personal Information Protection Act , and therefore filed a consumer protection lawsuit against the platform in Claiborne County Circuit Court .

It is reported that this is the first lawsuit filed by US states against "Temu trade fraud . "

However, Griffin said: "While we are the first state to take action like this, I predict there will be more of these things to come."

It is understood that in this lawsuit statement, Griffin accused Temu of not only being a cross-border shopping application, but also a company that steals data by selling goods online .

Griffin gave a detailed explanation of the accusation .

He said that Temu used low-priced goods as bait to attract users to download and install the app. After that, it could use the code in the program that could evade security review to gain unrestricted access to the user's mobile phone operating system, including the camera, location, contacts, text messages, etc., thereby obtaining private information without the user's knowledge and selling it to third parties for profit . This is undoubtedly a fraudulent means.

Griffin also pointed out that false discounts and poor quality of Temu's products were also part of the deception. For example, the company's promotional activities are too routine, and its product promotions and reviews are not true. Sometimes the products received do not match the detailed photos at all.

According to the lawsuit, Arkansas seeks a permanent injunction against Temu for its deceptive trade practices and violations of user privacy, as well as a $10,000 fine for each violation of the Deceptive Practices Act .

Two days after receiving the lawsuit, Temu responded.

Its spokesperson pointed out in a statement that the allegations were based on information circulating on the Internet and were completely unfounded . The company has denied the lawsuit filed " without any independent fact-finding " and will subsequently vigorously defend itself against the case.

The spokesperson also said that as a company with a new supply chain model, they understand that some people or businesses will not welcome or even misunderstand them. But over time, Temu's development of the country's e-commerce market will be obvious to everyone, and the company believes that reviewing the truth will be more beneficial to their long-term development .

It is worth mentioning that the lawsuit has aroused opposition from Temu users in Arkansas. Some people said that Temu's products are priced low and irresistible; others said that most online retailers will obtain user information and even questioned whether the purpose of this lawsuit is to prevent them from shopping on Temu.

At present, the further development of this case is still unknown, but it must be said that major cross-border e-commerce platforms must remember to put compliance first during their operations to avoid "rollovers" .