The US Is Going After Temu for the Wrong Reasons
Lawmakers should scrutinize the ultra-budget app, but focus on real issues like its opaque supply chain and poor quality.
Missing the mark.
Photographer: Stefani Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images
The escalating tech Cold War with China has brought another app to the attention of US authorities. This time it’s the shopping platform Temu, which is accused of being dangerous malware that can be used to spy on Americans.
In a news conference announcing a lawsuit against the budget bazaar, which is linked to China through its parent company PDD Holdings Inc., Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin painted a conspiratorial picture of an economic and military enemy, focusing on Beijing’s outposts in the South China Sea and its Belt and Road Initiative, among other things. “What does all that have to do with this? Everything,” Griffin said. “It’s all part of a plan — and data plays a really big role in that.”