What UK parents need to know about NGL, the anonymous question app linked to Instagram Stories — how it works, why it pressures teens, and the safest action to take.
NGL is an anonymous messaging app that lets people receive unsigned questions and comments, usually linked from Instagram Stories, popular with teens.
Official age
17+
We recommend
17+
Developer
NGL, Inc.
Risks
3
NGL ("not gonna lie") is an anonymous question and message app. The user generates a personal link, shares it in their Instagram bio or Story, and anyone who taps it can send them an anonymous message that appears in the NGL app. It is rated 17+ on the UK App Store but is very widely used by under-16s, often as a casual "ask me anything" game. The design — anonymity, no real moderation, and emotional volatility of unknown messages — is what makes it risky.
Teens typically post their NGL link to their Instagram Story with a prompt like "ask me anything" or "send me a confession." They then check NGL for replies, sometimes refreshing compulsively. A paid "hints" upsell offers vague clues about senders. Bullying often happens here because anonymity reduces the social cost of cruelty — and many children share the link with hundreds of followers, including people they barely know.
Remove NGL link from Instagram bio
Location: Instagram > Edit Profile > Bio
Set to: Removed
Cuts off the main route by which strangers can send anonymous messages. The single most effective change you can make.
Block specific senders
Location: Open message in NGL > tap menu > Block
Set to: Use for any abusive sender
NGL can block the device or account that sent a particular message from sending more. It does not unmask them.
Delete NGL account
Location: NGL app > Settings > Account > Delete account
Set to: Recommended for under-16s
Removes the link, message history, and account data. Reinstalling later creates a fresh account.
Turn off Instagram Story link sharing
Location: Instagram Story > Sticker icon > avoid Link sticker for NGL
Set to: Avoid posting NGL link in Stories
If your child does keep NGL, keeping the link out of their public Story reduces traffic from people they do not know.
Have a non-judgemental conversation about anonymous-message apps and why anonymity tends to bring out cruelty
Time: 20 minutes
Ask your child to remove the NGL link from their Instagram bio and uninstall the app — frame it as removing pressure, not as punishment
Time: 10 minutes
Use device-level screen-time tools (iOS Screen Time / Android Family Link) to block reinstallation if your child is being targeted
Time: 10 minutes
If your child has received abusive messages, screenshot them and contact their school. Report criminal content (threats, sexual messages, adults targeting children) to CEOP at ceop.police.uk or 101
Time: 30 minutes
In immediate danger: call 999. For non-emergency police matters, call 101.
Concerned about a child but it's not an emergency? NSPCC helpline 0808 800 5000. Childline for young people 0800 1111.
Myth: NGL is basically harmless if my child never replies to the messages.
Fact: The harm doesn't come from replying — it comes from reading a cruel or sexual message with no way to know who sent it. Not knowing whether it's a friend, a stranger, or someone at school is often what makes an anonymous message land harder than an identified one, because there's no one to explain themselves to or defend against.
Myth: Because NGL is rated 17+, Instagram must be checking that before allowing the link in a bio.
Fact: The 17+ rating sits on NGL's own app-store listing, not on Instagram's side — Instagram does nothing to stop a 13-year-old account from posting an NGL link in their bio or Story. The rating only does anything if a parent enforces it, or if NGL's own sign-up gate catches the user first.
Myth: As long as nothing against NGL's rules is happening, there's nothing worth reporting.
Fact: A message can stay within an app's own guidelines and still be something a school or the police need to know about — sexual content, threats, or an adult targeting your child fall outside 'just bullying' regardless of whether NGL itself flags them. CEOP (ceop.police.uk) exists precisely for the gap between what an app permits and what's actually safe.
This is the age NGL is most likely to arrive, riding in on a friend's Instagram Story rather than anything your child went looking for — the 'ask me anything' prompt is designed to feel like a fun dare. Because it sits well below the 17+ rating, the clearest approach at this age is a family rule of no NGL link, explained before a friend's bio makes them curious.
Peer pressure is strongest here — 'everyone has one' is a real dynamic even when it isn't literally true — so a flat 'no' can feel arbitrary without a reason attached. Explaining that some of the messages NGL itself sends are AI-generated rather than from real people tends to land better than a general warning about anonymity.
NGL's own age rating catches up with them here, but 'old enough' doesn't mean risk-free — agree they keep the link off their public Story, ignore any prompt to pay for 'hints' that claim to unmask a sender, and come to you, or use Childline's Report Remove while it's still available to them, if a message turns threatening or sexual.
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