Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody is among nearly two dozen attorneys general who are demanding answers from the online retailer Temu over recent concerning reports, according to a news release by Moody.
Moody and 20 other attorneys general sent a letter to the president of Temu and the CEO of PPD Holdings Inc., Temu's parent company, on Thursday. They outlined business-practice concerns after reports that Temu may not be following federal law or the states' consumer protection law, the news release stated.
They are specifically questioning the company’s possible ties with the Chinese Communist Party, data collection and sharing practices, as well as possible violations of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.
“A congressional investigation uncovered that Temu may be illegally selling products made with forced labor in an area of China in which the Chinese Communist Party is committing genocide," Moody said. "Additionally, there are reports that Temu is gathering U.S. consumer information and passing it along to the CCP."
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The attorneys general sent Temu a list of questions and gave them 30 days to respond.
"These reports are alarming—not only on a consumer protection front but in regards to national security as well," AG Moody explained. "I along with my fellow attorneys general are urging the company’s owners to respond to these allegations.”
According to Moody's news release on Friday, the company admitted that “it does not have a policy in place to prohibit the sale of goods from Xinjiang – the location of the CCP’s ongoing genocide against the Uyghurs.” Moody's release also stated that Temu claimed it is not subject to the UFLPA.
See the full list of states demanding answers from Temu below:
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Florida
- Georgia
- Idaho
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Louisiana
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- New Hampshire
- North Dakota
- Oklahoma
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Virginia
- West Virginia.
Temu has yet to release a statement in response to these allegations.
