The Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday for the first time banned an online service from serving users under 18, saying the app had violated child privacy and consumer protection laws and had harmed children and teens.
He The FTC said The agency had reached a settlement with the creator of the anonymous messaging app NGL over privacy and consumer protection violations. NGL Labs, the creator of NGL, had aggressively promoted the app as a “safe space for teens” with strong moderation practices, but instead exposed users to cyberbullying and other harms, the agency said.
NGL, a common acronym used for the expression “I’m not going to lie,” agreed to a $4.5 million settlement to pay consumers affected by the company’s practices. The agreement was reached jointly with the Los Angeles district attorney, who imposed an additional $500,000 civil penalty on NGL.
Lawmakers and regulators have become increasingly concerned about children's safety and well-being online. Last month, the Surgeon General called for a health warning label to be included on social media for teens and children, which would require an act of Congress to become mandatory. Lawmakers are also discussing the Children's Internet Safety Act, a bill that would require social media, messaging and other sites to protect children from harmful content and to set the strongest privacy settings as the default for young users.
The FTC said it was pushing to protect children online by examining apps and services that violate children's privacy and consumer protection laws.
In the case of NGL, the agency said it found a number of deceptive practices, according to the settlement. The Los Angeles-based company launched NGL in 2021 and falsely claimed in its marketing to young users that its service used artificial intelligence tools to prevent bullying and other harmful online activities, the FTC said.
According to the settlement, NGL also sent fake messages that appeared to come from real people to lure users to the site. NGL then tricked them into paying a $9.99 weekly fee to reveal the identities of the message senders, but then failed to reveal those identities, the FTC said.
“NGL marketed its app to children and teens despite knowing it was exposing them to bullying and cyberbullying,” FTC Chairwoman Lina Khan said in a statement.
In an interview, Sam Levine, the FTC’s director of consumer protection, said the agency’s action was intended to send a message to the tech industry. In the past two years, the FTC has also reached settlements with Fortnite creator Epic Games and amazon over children’s privacy violations.
“We are taking a closer look at how these apps affect children and teens,” Levine said.
NGL said many of the allegations in the lawsuit were “factually incorrect” but that it had implemented several changes required in the settlement. “After nearly two years of cooperating with the FTC’s investigation, we view this resolution as an opportunity to make NGL better than ever for our users and believe the settlement is in our best interest,” said Joao Figueiredo, co-founder of NGL.
Parents of children who have been harmed online and child safety groups praised the FTC's action.
Kristin Bride, the mother of a 16-year-old boy who committed suicide in 2020 after being cyberbullied on anonymous messaging apps, had filed a complaint against NGL with the FTC in October, alleging the app harmed children. The agency said it met with Bride and other parents and child safety groups during its investigation.
“We have known for over a decade that anonymous apps targeting teens lead to cyberbullying and, in many cases, suicide, like what happened to my 16-year-old son, Carson,” Bride said in an interview.
