Anonymous messaging app NGL barred from marketing to kids, must refund unauthorized charges

NGL, an anonymous messaging app popular with teens, is banned from marketing to kids under 18 and must pay $4.5 million dollars to give money back to customers it deceived.

The Federal Trade Commission and the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office say that NGL marketed the app to children and teens despite being aware of the harms of similar anonymous messaging apps to young users. According to the complaint, one user reported that a friend attempted suicide because of the NGL app.

What’s more, NGL falsely claimed to use AI content moderation to keep kids safe from bullying and harmful language. And by collecting information from children under age 13 without getting parental consent, NGL violated laws designed to protect children’s privacy online.

That’s not all. NGL tricked users into signing up for the paid version of the app, NGL Pro, by making false promises that users could find out who was sending them messages through the app. They couldn’t.

Many NGL users who paid for the Pro version thought they were paying a one-time charge, but the company charged a recurring, weekly fee of up to $9.99 without users’ knowledge and consent. And then ignored customers’ requests for refunds.