Senior executives of social media giants and online marketplaces could face high personal fines if they fail to remove illegal content swiftly, as part of the UK government’s attempts to curb the sale of illegal weapons and knives.

The proposed measures from the Home Office will make senior tech executives personally liable if they do not do enough to prevent the sale and marketing of illegal weapons across their sites.

The new crackdown on posts that ‘glorify violence’ could lead to a personal fine of up to £10,000 from the police, under the new plans.

Police will have the power to issues 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 if they too fail to act.

Labour says this proposal is the latest step in their pledge to halve knife crime over the next decade.

The UK government credited a sharp rise in robberies at knifepoint, which is driving the steep increase in knife crime nationally. In England and Wales, crime involving a sharp object rose 4% year-on-year in 2024.

In Scotland, the most common method of homicides in the past ten years has been with a sharp object, which was the method used in 58% of homicides between 2022 and 2023.

Home secretary Yvette Cooper recently chaired the first meeting of a dedicated new taskforce focused on rapid action to curb this trend.

“The epidemic of knife crime that has grown over the last decade is devastating families and communities right across the country,” she said.

“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.

“That means tough new sanctions for technology executives who fail to tackle illegal knife sales on their platforms, and a comprehensive ban on ninja swords.”

The new powers are set to support the work of commander Stephen Clayman of the National Police Chief’s Council, who is leading a review into the sale of knives.

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“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.

“Policing continues to work hard to tackle knife crime but we cannot do this alone. The announcement today will provide additional measures in the fight against tackling the supply of these weapons and support us in our mission to drive down knife crime and make our communities safer for everyone.”