'Desensitising young people to violence': Tech firms and bosses to face hefty fines for failing to remove knife crime content
8 May 2025, 08:16 | Updated: 8 May 2025, 08:21
Tech companies and individual executives face being collectively fined up to £70,000 each time a post relating to knife crime is not removed for their sites.
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The Government has expanded a previously announced plan to fine individual tech bosses £10,000 when their platform fails to remove content linked to knife crime, and will now issue additional fines of up to £60,000 to a company itself each time it fails to remove individual posts.
The Home Office said the sanctions are part of plans to combat content that advertises illegal knives and other offensive weapons to young people, as well as glorifying or inciting violence.
The laws will also make a greater range of platforms liable, including search engines, social media platforms and online marketplaces, with the aim of capturing all online providers which might currently be failing to remove content.
They will be introduced in an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill.
'Damaging and dangerous content'
Crime and policing minister Dame Diana Johnson said: "The kind of content that young people scroll through every day online is sickening and I will not accept any notion that restricting access to this harmful material is too difficult.
"Our children need more from us. That is why we are now going further than ever to hold to account the tech companies who are not doing enough to safeguard young people from content which incites violence, particularly in young boys.
"Curbing the impact of this kind of content will be key for our mission to halve knife crime, but more widely our Plan for Change across Government to do more protect young people from damaging and dangerous content."
The development comes after Ofcom announced the final version of its codes of practice under the Online Safety Act aimed at protecting children from online harm.
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'Desensitising young people to violence'
Patrick Green, chief executive of knife crime prevention charity the Ben Kinsella Trust, said: "The portrayal of knife crime on social media has significantly hindered efforts to reduce it.
"Beyond merely normalising, glamorising, and desensitising young people to violence, it has often provided an illegal avenue for purchasing knives without adequate safeguards, such as proper age verification.
"Social media companies and their executives have repeatedly failed to address these issues.
"Therefore, I welcome today's announcement from the Government to take decisive action and hold these executives accountable.
"I also thank the Government for listening to the Coalition to Tackle Knife Crime and for extending these sanctions to include social media companies, who have a responsibility to keep young people safe on their platforms."
