What is NGL? This is the anonymous messaging application that is sweeping Instagram

By Kalhan Rosenblatt -

NGL, an app that allows users to request and send anonymous messages, is gaining huge popularity on Instagram, especially among young people.

NGL, which is short for "Not gonna lie" on social media, is a new iteration of the anonymous "ask me anything" format.

It's one of the latest iterations of the "anonymous question" tools that teens have used on social media for more than a decade.

In that decade, NGL-like apps have had harassment issues due to the anonymity of the platforms.

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NGL allows teens to use the app through Instagram, where users post questions to their stories and followers answer anonymously.

Typically, users post links to their NGL inboxes on their Instagram accounts, asking their followers to submit questions or comments about them anonymously.

The app, which bills itself as "a new take on anonymity," features language filters meant to prevent harassment.

However, NBC News found that some phrases were still valid.

When our sister network, NBC News, tested the app, slurs and terms like “KYS,” which is short for “Kill yourself,” leaked out.

But language filters allowed messages with more routine harassing terms to slip through, including the phrases "You're fat," "Everyone hates you," "You're a loser," and "You're ugly."

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Users whose messages were flagged for using inappropriate language were not banned from sending further messages immediately after sending insults.

NBC News has contacted NGL to comment on their selection filters.

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“We believe that anonymity should be a fun yet safe place to express your feelings and opinions without shame,” according to the NGL website.

“Young people do not have a space to share their feelings without being judged by their friends or by the pressures of society.

NGL provides this safe space for teens."

App store descriptions offer similar language about security.

“We use deep learning and rule-based character pattern matching algorithms to filter out harmful language and harassment,” the description says.

"Ultimately, we believe anonymity only works when it's secure."

A teenage girl uses a mobile device at home.Carol Yepes/Getty Images

The app works by linking a person's Instagram handle.

Once linked to an Instagram account, the user can use the NGL feature to ask their followers to “send me anonymous messages”, as the initial message says.

The message can be edited to ask anything the user wants to know.

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NGL launched in November, according to its website, and on iOS in December, according to Apptopia, a platform that tracks app store data.

In May, the app was launched on Google Play.

Apptopia estimates that the app has had 7.3 million global downloads, but that 7.27 million of its lifetime downloads occurred this month.

The biggest jump occurred between June 13 and 16, according to Apptopia, which pushed NGL to the top of the US App Store downloads.

During that period, he rose from 355th to first place.

The United States accounts for 35% of NGL downloads, which has generated about $500,000 in in-app purchases, according to Apptopia.

The app was launched by "a small team of designers and engineers in Venice Beach, California," according to its website.

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The NGL format is reminiscent of late 2000s and 2010s platforms like Formspring (later renamed Spring.me) and Ask.fm, where users could ask questions anonymously.

Those platforms, however well-intentioned, often led to bullying and harassment.

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Apps like Snapchat suspended apps that allowed users to submit anonymous questions after being sued by families whose children had died by suicide after being bullied on anonymous apps that could be linked to the platform, according to TechCrunch.

A lawsuit filed by Kristin Bride claimed that her 16-year-old son, Carson, committed suicide after being bullied through anonymous messaging apps like Yolo and LMK, and called for such apps to be banned from Snapchat.

A Snap spokesperson referred to a press release from March, in which the platform said it would "prohibit apps that facilitate anonymous messaging from being integrated into our platform" in response to the lawsuit.

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“As a result of that review, in March we announced several changes to our developer platform that we believe are in the best interest of our community, and that are more in line with our approach to supporting communications that reflect real-life friendships.” , the Snapchat spokesperson explained in an email.

However, TechCrunch reported in May that the platform had not started fully enforcing the ban.

Snap's spokesperson did not respond to TechCrunch's request for comment on the report.

NGL says it tries to discourage bullying through "first-class Artificial Intelligence (AI) content moderation" and claims that because they "understand the jargon," they know "how to filter out harmful messages."

Unlike previous anonymous quiz apps, NGL allows users to block people if they are harassed or bullied.

The app includes a feature to report abusive messages, which allows users to block senders or send messages to the platform's security team.

The app doesn't seem to have community guidelines yet.

It says on its website that those guidelines are "coming soon."

If you or someone you know is in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255, text HOME to 741741, or visit