The Federal Trade Commission has issued a ban prohibiting NGL Labs from providing messaging service to minors after accusations the company tricked minors.

NGL provides an anonymous messaging app, but the company and two of its co-founders were accused of improperly marketing their service to children and teens. The FTC says the co-founders—Raj Vir and Joao Figueiredo—actively marketed to minors, as well as “sent fake messages that appeared to come from real people and tricked users into signing up for their paid subscription by falsely promising that doing so would reveal the identity of the senders of messages.”

The FTC says NGL began sending the fake computer-generated messages in 2022 after the service failed to gain much traction. The messages were designed to make users think, and especially minors, believe their friends were trying to contact them.

Adding to the founders’ culpability, the FTC reports that executives instructed employees to reach out to kids.

Company executives told employees to reach out to high school kids directly. Figueiredo urged employees to get “kids who are popular to post and get their friends to post” and noted that the “best way is to reach out on [Instagram] by finding popular girls on high school cheer [Instagram] pages,” according to the complaint.

The complaint says the company falsely claimed that its AI-powered system would filter out cyberbullying and other harmful messages. In fact, users complained that NGL failed to prevent rampant cyberbullying and threats against children and teens. One consumer reported that their friend had attempted suicide because of the NGL app, according to the complaint.

The company also failed to obtain parental consent before signing kids up for paid services. As a result of the FTC’s action, the defendants have agreed to pay $5 million to settle the suit.

“NGL marketed its app to kids and teens despite knowing that it was exposing them to cyberbullying and harassment,” said FTC Chair Lina M. Khan. “In light of NGL’s reckless disregard for kids’ safety, the FTC’s order would ban NGL from marketing or offering its app to those under 18. We will keep cracking down on businesses that unlawfully exploit kids for profit.”

“The consequences of these actions can be severe. The anonymity provided by the app can facilitate rampant cyberbullying among teens, causing untold harm to our young people,” Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón said. “We cannot tolerate such behavior, nor can we allow companies to profit at the expense of our children’s safety and well-being. Today’s charges send a clear message that deceptive practices and targeting vulnerable populations will not be tolerated.”