Senior executives who fail to stop dangerous and illegal knives being advertised on their platforms will be held liable under new government proposal
To combat the unacceptable use of social media and online marketplaces to market illegal weapons and glorify violence, senior executives of social media companies will face personal fines if they fail to remove illegal content swiftly.
In a consultation published today (Wednesday 13 November), proposals include giving police the power to issue notices to senior executives of online companies, ordering them to remove specific pieces of content, potentially within two days. If the company fails to act on this, the police will send a second notice to the senior executive in that company, who would then be personally liable for a significant fine if they too fail to act.
This is the latest step to meet the government’s pledge to halve knife crime over the next decade.
The government is also progressing its commitment to ban ninja swords following a determined campaign by Pooja Kanda, the mother of Ronan Kanda who was tragically killed using one of these weapons in 2022. Today, it will publish a consultation to finalise the description of this deadly weapon – the first step towards bringing forward the change in legislation.
After a sharp rise in robberies at knifepoint, which is driving the steep increase in knife crime nationally, the Home Secretary recently chaired the first meeting of a dedicated new taskforce focused on rapid action to curb this trend. A nationwide policing effort is underway this week, coordinated by the National Police Chiefs’ Council, where forces will target robbery hotspots to prevent violent crime.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said:
Pooja Kanda said:
Commander Stephen Clayman, National Police Chiefs’ Council Lead for knife crime, said:
These new powers will support the work of Commander Stephen Clayman, who is also leading a review into the online sale of knives. Commissioned by the Home Secretary in September, the review will identify what more needs to be done to stop knives being sold illegally online. Commander Clayman will report back to the Home Secretary by the end of January 2025.