Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Street
The Street
Rebecca Mezistrano

Controversial social messaging app banned for young teens

Transcript:

CONWAY GITTENS: I'm Conway Gittens reporting from the New York Stock Exchange. Here’s what we’re watching on TheStreet today.

Stocks are coming off yet another record day with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq crossing all-time highs on Tuesday. Investors are feeling optimistic after Fed Chair Jerome Powell warned that keeping rates too high for too long could hurt economic growth.

And in other news, federal regulators are banning a popular social media app from serving kids under 18 for the first time ever. The Federal Trade Commission and the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office are banning anonymous messaging app, ‘NGL,’ due to rampant cyberbullying on the platform.

More Videos:

The FTC alleges that despite marketing the anonymous messaging app as a “safe place for teens,” NGL made false claims about its AI content moderation.

The suit also claims that NGL tricked people into paying for subscriptions by sending fake computer-generated messages to users. It also claims that the app violated laws aimed at protecting children's data, with employees referring to paying customers as ‘suckers.’

The app – which launched back in 2021 – allows users to link their social media accounts so that friends and followers could ask anonymous questions. NGL is an internet abbreviation for the phrase ‘not gonna lie.’

NGL is paying $5 million dollars to settle the suit. While the company disputes some of the allegations in the suit, its co-founder says it will use the settlement as an opportunity to improve its platform.

That’ll do it for your daily briefing. From the New York Stock Exchange, I’m Conway Gittens with TheStreet.

    Related: Surgeon General calls for warning label on social media platforms

    Sign up to read this article
    Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
    Already a member? Sign in here
    Related Stories
    Top stories on inkl right now
    Our Picks
    Fourteen days free
    Download the app
    One app. One membership.
    100+ trusted global sources.