LITTLE ROCK, Ark — Arkansas is suing e-commerce company Temu for allegedly "deceiving" users and "illegally accessing their personal information."
The announcement came on Tuesday by Attorney General Tim Griffin, who said that Arkansas is the first state to take this sort of action against the popular e-commerce company.
He said that the lawsuit is being filed against the holding company of Temu and that the suit would be filed from Cleburne County.
The lawsuit is centered around what's being referred to as "unjust enrichment" in accordance to the ADTPA (Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act) and PIPA (Personal Information Protection Act).
During his press conference, Griffin was heavy in his criticism of the online marketplace, referring to Temu as a "data theft business" as he introduced the lawsuit.
"You are opening not your consumer behavior, not your browsing behavior, you are opening your life to Temu through the data that they can and are accessing," AG Griffin said about the lawsuit.
Griffin also labeled the company operating "functionally" as malware and spyware. "It can override data privacy settings on users' devices, and it monetizes this unauthorized collection of data."
This lawsuit against Temu comes as state officials continue to target several online powerhouses who they feel are "deceptive" with their intentions.
Just earlier this month, it was announced that Arkansas's lawsuit against Meta was allowed to proceed, which he called a "victory for the citizens of Arkansas."
That decision came after Griffin sued Meta last year and accused the company of violating the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. He alleged that Meta "misled the public about the platform's safety and addictiveness."
A spokesperson for Temu said the company is "surprised and disappointed" by the lawsuit that they claim was filed "without any independent fact-finding."
"The allegations in the lawsuit are based on misinformation circulated online, primarily from a short-seller, and are totally unfounded," the company claimed. "We categorically deny the allegations and will vigorously defend ourselves."
You can read the full statement below:
We are surprised and disappointed by the Arkansas Attorney General's Office for filing the lawsuit without any independent fact-finding. The allegations in the lawsuit are based on misinformation circulated online, primarily from a short-seller, and are totally unfounded. We categorically deny the allegations and will vigorously defend ourselves.
We understand that as a new company with an innovative supply chain model, some may misunderstand us at first glance and not welcome us. We are committed to the long-term and believe that scrutiny will ultimately benefit our development. We are confident that our actions and contributions to the community will speak for themselves over time.