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KY Attorney General Coleman files suit against online Chinese shopping platform Temu

Attorney General Russell Coleman announced Thursday the filing of a lawsuit against Temu, the Chinese online shopping platform, for unlawful data collection, violations of customers' privacy and counterfeiting some of Kentucky's most iconic brands.

The lawsuit was filed Thursday in Woodford County Circuit Court, alleging the Temu app is about much more than cheap goods offered at bargain-basement prices.

The complaint alleges that Temu:

Illegally collects users' data without their knowledge and consent;
Allows unfettered access of that data to the Chinese Communist government;
Steals the intellectual property of U.S.-owned companies, including some of Kentucky's most iconic brands including the University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, Buffalo Trace Distillery and Churchill Downs; and
Uses forced labor from Chinese ethnic minorities in clear violation of U.S. trade policies.

Temu has risen in popularity to become the most-downloaded mobile app in the U.S. in 2023. According to the lawsuit, those behind the app have used that new-found popularity to collect massive quantities of information about customers, all without their knowledge or consent.

Temu is owned by a multibillion-dollar Chinese holding company, PDD Holdings, whose first retail app, Pinduoduo, was eventually banned from U.S. app stores for being malware. The Temu app shares a significant amount of its code with the original Pinduoduo app and has a documented relationship with the Chinese Communist Party.
17 hours ago