Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird has joined a multistate legal challenge against Temu, alleging the China-linked shopping app violated Iowa’s Consumer Fraud Act.
The lawsuit, filed on July 1, places Iowa alongside attorneys general from Arkansas, Kentucky, Nebraska, Arizona, Texas and Oklahoma. The states are pursuing claims tied to consumer protection, security and data privacy, according to the article.
Temu advertises clothing, home decor and other goods at low prices. In the Iowa lawsuit, Bird alleges the app collects personal information from minors and exposes user data to "misappropriation by Chinese authorities", Bird’s lawsuit says.
The complaint also alleges some Temu products are made in a Chinese province known for holding members of the Uyghur ethnic minority against their will in forced labor camps. The article says PDD Holdings, Temu’s parent company, was "credibly accused" of Congress of selling products made with forced labor, 21 state attorneys general wrote in a 2024 letter.
Bird further accused Temu of misleading consumers about product quality and pricing, as well as using sign-up scams.
The lawsuit also claims Temu’s app is modeled off of PDD Holdings’ other online marketplace app, Pinduoduo. According to the article, American security experts deemed that app malware, Bird says, and it was banned from Google’s App Marketplace.
Iowa is seeking reimbursement and an order requiring Temu to stop the alleged unlawful conduct.
