No, Temu is not an ethical brand.
A U.S. Congressional Report from June 2023 raised alarming concerns about Temu and Shein’s potential links to forced labor. The report highlighted an “extremely high risk” of products on Temu being associated with forced labor, and the committee expressed particular worry about the exploitation of U.S. de minimis provisions by both companies. The de minimis threshold of $800 allows goods below this value to enter the country without inspection, which could contribute to potential issues with labor practices.
Furthermore, the report revealed that Temu lacks a specific policy against goods made in Xinjiang, where evidence suggests forced labor may occur."
Clearly China has been proven to be untrustworthy when it comes to their technology, apps included, so I tend to do the opposite of give them the benefit of the doubt, and just assume their apps are untrustworthy by default.
Even with shipping, it’s unclear exactly how much Temu would actually be losing per order depending on how efficient their distribution network is.
Also Noticed that they were specifically pushing in app purchases hard with discounts etc.
…but didn’t connect the dots between those two odd things.