A Welsh TikTok star has raised some eyebrows by launching a new campaign called 'OnlyNans' on the video-sharing platform. Lewis Leigh, from Merthyr Tydfil, has more than 1.7m followers on the app having won a legion of fans during the coronavirus pandemic.
He is most known on the platform for his adorable dances with his grandmother Phyllis with millions of viewers left delighted by the heart-warming clips. One video of the pair dancing together during lockdown has more than 10m views alone.
Two years on Lewis and his nan are still making videos together while his parents have also featured in a number of viral clips. You can read our interview with the social media star here while you can also keep up to date with the latest viral clips from across TikTok by clicking here.
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However with such a huge following also comes great responsibility and the Valleys boy is now doing his bit to look out for young TikTok users with his new 'OnlyNans' scheme. The name of the campaign is a play on the online subscription service OnlyFans, which features sexually explicit material, but Lewis' new venture couldn't be further from this.
The star has teamed up with Ofcom to launch the campaign which urges young people to report harmful content that they see on the app. The scheme encourages these users to report content that would offend their grans as "nans are the best judges out there".
Launching the campaign on his TikTok page Lewis said: "I love social media but there can be some harmful content out there. We're all guilty of scrolling past it but the only way to get rid of it is to report it. So I've teamed up with Ofcom to play OnlyNans, and I've called in the big guns to help me... My Nanny Phyllis!"
He added: "Nans always give the best advice. So next time you’re scrolling through your phone and come across something you’re not quite sure about ask yourself: 'What would my nan think?'. If it’s a 'no' from nan then perhaps think about reporting it."
TikTok has more than a billion monthly active users worldwide with this figure set to reach a whopping 1.8bn by the end of 2022. Around 28% of these users are between the ages of 10 and 19 according to app analytics service AppApe.
The campaign comes as a new bill to ensure child safety online is making its way through Parliament. The Online Safety Bill, which has undergone extensive Parliamentary scrutiny, aims to "make the UK the safest place in the world to be online while defending free expression".
A recent survey by Ofcom found that 67% of teenagers and young adults aged 13 to 24 had encountered at least one potentially harmful piece of content online. However only 17% went on to report it with more than 20% saying that they didn't think reporting something would make a difference and 12% admitting that they did not know what to do when they saw the harmful content.
The Online Safety Bill introduces new rules for search engines and social media platforms such as TikTok which host user-generated content. These platforms will need to tackle and remove illegal material, such as that relating to terrorism or child sexual exploitation, and have a duty to protect young people from access harmful content.
It will also give Ofcom powers to fine these social media platforms if they fail in their duty of care. The regulator will be able to hand out fines of up to £18m or 10% of the offending companies' qualifying revenue.
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