Popular app banned from hosting young teens in a groundbreaking settlement [Video]

WASHINGTON — The Federal Trade Commission and the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office have banned a controversial anonymous messaging app from serving kids under 18, taking an unprecedented and aggressive step against what regulators called “rampant cyberbullying and threats against children and teens” on the platform.

The targeted ban is the FTC’s latest move in a wider crackdown on social media companies, data brokers and other businesses that allegedly mishandle consumer data or make overhyped claims about artificial intelligence.

As part of a lawsuit and settlement announced Tuesday, the app being penalized – known as NGL – will also pay $5 million to settle what FTC Chair Lina Khan said was “reckless disregard for kids’ safety.” The app will also have to implement an age gate to block its services to current and new users who are under 18 years old. The regulators wrote that the app billed itself as a “safe …