A study by the non-profit organization Online Risk Labs (ORL) found that 73 out of the top 100 Meta content creators for Temu are likely fake accounts. These accounts use AI-generated content to promote products, with some videos reaching over 1 billion views.
The analysis revealed that 28 of these accounts are located in Russia and 19 in China, despite targeting European audiences. Additionally, 73% of these users changed their account names at least once, with one individual changing their name 15 times.
ORL estimates that Temu spent up to $962 million on this advertising format in the UK and EU, which accounts for nearly 2% of its total revenue in Europe for a specific quarter. Collaborative ads made up 65.8% of all Temu Meta ads, compared to an average of 2% for typical advertisers.
ORL has submitted a report to the EU Digital Services Act regulators to assess the risks posed by Temu's creator network. Legal experts suggest these practices may violate the UK Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act and EU advertising rules.
