‘We are concerned about the protection of Americans data,’ the lawmakers said on Sept. 25.
House Republicans on Sept. 25 requested a briefing by the FBI and U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) over shopping app Temu, whose owners reportedly have ties with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee said they are concerned about the “growing national security and personal data concerns surrounding” Temu and its parent company, Pinduoduo, according to a statement. A letter noting their concerns, signed by every GOP lawmaker on the panel, was directed to FBI Director Christopher Wray and SEC Chairman Gary Gensler.
Those Republicans, led by Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio), said that they are flagging Temu and Pinduoduo for “possible trade, slave labor, and national security concerns.”
The letter highlighted their concerns about Temu and cited a New York Post report from June showing that senior executives at the company and Pinduoduo have an affiliation with the CCP. That report said that the firm’s top leaders include a former senior official in the CCP’s State Administration for Market Regulation and a former official with the regulation department of the Shanghai Administration for Market Regulation, among others.
Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin also told Fox Business in July that Temu is operated by Pinduoduo Inc., which is based in Shanghai and includes “former Chinese communist officials” in its ranks.
Other concerns include that the Pinduoduo app was suspended by Google last year because of malware concerns.
“Off-Play versions of this app that have been found to contain malware have been enforced on via Google Play Protect,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement last year.
When it was removed from the Google Play store, Pinduoduo said it was told by the tech giant that its “current version is not compliant with Google’s Policy,” adding that Google “has not shared more details.”
An Epoch Times review of the Google Play store shows that the Pinduoduo app currently isn’t listed, although Temu remains available and is one of the most widely downloaded apps on the Android platform.
