Massive change to online knife laws with social media bosses facing huge fines

Tech bosses will face even bigger fines than previously expected if they advertise knives to young people, it has been announced.

Ministers have ramped up plans to hit web chiefs in the pocket if they help sell deadly weapons or glorify knife violence. Sanctions unveiled today will see individuals fined up to £10,000, while their businesses could also be ordered to pay up to £60,000 for each post shared online.

It follows calls from anti-knife crime campaigners to include tougher punishments in the landmark Crime and Policing Bill, which is making its way through Parliament. The Government previously proposed £10,000 fines for those who break the law.

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.”

Patrick Green, chief executive of the Ben Kinsella Trust - set up in memory of 16-year-old Ben, who was stabbed to death in 2008 - welcomed the move. He 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."

In February Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced a string of measures to save lives after a bombshell report highlighted horrific gaps in the law. Ms Cooper told The Mirror : "We have this crazy situation where there's often more checks for alcohol or for cigarettes or all these different things, and yet these are lethal weapons.

"And so that's why we have to change the law." For the first time a new police unit will target deadly weapons being sold on social media, while the Government is looking at compulsory licencing with tougher prison sentences for those profiting from misery.

Pooja Kanda, whose son Ronan was stabbed using a sword his killers had bought online, said her son would still be alive if the new laws were in plac e.

Under the new laws online retailers will have a duty to report suspicious bulk purchases they suspect could lead to weapons being resold. An alarming report by Commander Stephen Clayman, the national police lead on knife crime, found laws around online knife sales are less stringent than for alcohol, tobacco, fireworks or even scratchcards. He warned that a "grey market" for deadly weapons on sites like Snapchat and Telegram has grown.

His report highlighted one - named Weapons R Us - which sold blades at ramped-up prices through social media. Mr Clayman's report will call for a string of measures designed to save lives. The Home Office has announced jail terms for those selling knives to under-18s will be ramped up from six months to two years. These can be applied to workers who process illegal sales as well as the chief executives of a company.