Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin on Tuesday announced that he has filed a lawsuit against the parent companies of Chinese e-commerce firm Temu for violations of the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act and the Arkansas Personal Information Protection Act.
Griffin said Temu is known as an e-commerce platform but is “functionally malware and spyware” that operates as a data-theft business. Temu’s parent companies are PDD Holdings Inc. and WhaleCo Inc. The lawsuit was filed in Cleburne County Circuit Court and seeks an order enjoining Temu’s “deceptive trade practices and violations of users’ privacy.” It seeks civil penalties as well as “all other monetary and equitable relief to which the state is entitled.”
Griffin said Arkansas’ suit represents the first state lawsuit against Temu but noted the company’s suspension from Apple’s digital app store in 2023 and multiple investigations into its dealings, including an ongoing investigation by the U.S. Congress.
“Temu is led by a cadre of former Chinese Communist Party officials, which raises significant security risks to our country and our citizens,” Griffin said at a press conference announcing the suit. “For my part, I will aggressively fight Temu’s efforts to profit at the expense of Arkansans’ privacy rights.”
READ ALSO: LITTLE ROCK’S BRYSON WARREN DISCUSSES EXPERIENCES LEADING TO THE 2024 NBA DRAFT
