United States – October 19, 2026 -- The anonymous messaging app NGL has passed 15 million installs in recent weeks, and a child-safety advisory now urges parents to keep their kids away from such apps.
Anonymous messages have been linked to teen deaths
These apps let users message others without revealing who they are. The advisory says that ability is exploited by people who want to cyberbully, defraud, or molest.
Sixteen-year-old Carson Bride died by suicide on June 23, 2020. Between January 23 and June 22, 2020, he received 105 messages through YOLO, an app for sending anonymous messages on Snapchat. Most were severe harassment, often sexually explicit and threatening. Evidence indicates he tried several times to identify the senders, and his final phone search was for a way to reveal the YOLO username.
Elizabeth Long, a 19-year-old college freshman, wrote that she began seeing anonymous Yik Yak posts telling her to kill herself while she was recovering from a suicide attempt. Yik Yak broadcasts anonymous posts to nearby users.
The advisory also names five other teens whose deaths it connects to anonymous apps:
- Alexis Pilkington, 17, Long Island, New York
- Natasha MacBryde, 15, Worcestershire, U.K.
- Jamey Rodemeyer, 14, Buffalo, New York
- Ciara Pugsley, 13, Leitrim, Ireland
- Jacob Marberger, 19, Cheltenham, Pennsylvania
Parents are urged to take three steps
The authors call the benefits of anonymous apps for young teens marginal at best. They recommend that parents talk with their child about the dangers, set a rule against anonymous apps and websites, and adjust device settings so apps cannot be downloaded without permission.
The warning does not cover trusted services that let teens speak anonymously with licensed professionals, including mental health professionals.
Snapchat dropped Yolo and LMK; Instagram still allows NGL
Snapchat removed Yolo and LMK from its service in response to ongoing litigation. At the time of writing, Instagram still permits NGL, and the authors urge it to reconsider. They want social media platforms to ban anonymous apps for child users.