Social media bosses who fail to stop illegal knives being advertised on their sites could face £10,000 fines from police under Government plans.
The Home Office said the proposed measures, announced on Wednesday, to make senior technology executives “personally liable” were in a bid to combat the “unacceptable use of social media and online marketplaces to market illegal weapons and glorify violence” and to make sure content is quickly removed.
Police will be given the power to issue notices to senior bosses at online companies and order them to remove specific adverts and content, potentially within two days, if the plans progress.
Officers can then send a second notice if the company still fails to act which would hold the executive personally liable for a “significant fine” if they do not take action.
The amount a person could be fined and the maximum penalty is yet to be determined, with responses to the proposals and court guidelines due to be considered. But consultation documents on the plans suggest a rough example of £10,000 for the worst offenders, the PA news agency understands.
The move is the latest step in efforts by ministers to meet Labour’s manifesto pledge of halving knife crime levels over the next decade.
It comes as plans to ban ninja-style swords continue in the wake of campaigning by Pooja Kanda, the mother of 16-year-old Ronan Kanda who was killed in Wolverhampton by two 17-year-olds in 2022 using the weapon bought online using a fake name and collected from a Post Office.
A consultation to decide the definition and description of the weapon is also being published, marking the first step towards bringing the change into law.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said perpetrators “must face the full force of the law” as she announced the “tough new sanctions”, adding: “The epidemic of knife crime that has grown over the last decade is devastating families and communities right across the country.
“That’s why this Government has set out an unprecedented mission to halve knife crime over the next decade and today we’re taking determined action to get lethal blades off Britain’s streets.”
Mrs Kanda said: “I am very relieved that today the Government have kept their promise to proactively ban the ninja sword that killed my son and protect others from having the same fate.”
Commander Stephen Clayman, who leads the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s work on knife crime and is carrying out a review into online sales of the weapons for the Home Office, added: “For far too long, deadly weapons have been far too easily accessible online, with content promoting their use for protection and combat rife on many platforms and seemingly little being done to remove it.
“We welcome the chance to take part in the consultation and explore the most effective means of achieving this, including using the findings of the ongoing online sales review.”