Consumer groups accuse Temu of manipulating online shoppers

Brussels, Belgium: European consumer groups on Thursday accused Chinese shopping app Temu of using manipulative techniques to make users spend more...

Brussels, Belgium: European consumer groups on Thursday accused Chinese shopping app Temu of using "manipulative techniques" to make users spend more and other violations of a landmark EU tech law.

One of the fastest-growing apps, Temu only entered the EU market in April 2023 and says it has on average around 75 million monthly active users in the 27-country bloc.

Europe's BEUC umbrella consumer rights group filed a complaint with the European Commission while 17 member organisations in Europe including in France, Germany and Spain have done the same with national authorities.

The groups accuse Temu of "failing to protect consumers and for using manipulative practices which are illegal" -- known as "dark patterns" -- and demanded an investigation.

They believe Temu is distorting or impairing consumers' ability to make "free and informed decisions" while shopping online, in violation of the EU's mammoth online content law known as the Digital Services Act (DSA).