Getty ImagesI am 48 years old, I use social media from time to time, and I’m not very technical. Until recently I would never have used a telegram.
But last year, after meeting the family of Ronan Kanda-16-year-old who was killed in a wrong identity case From two other teenagers who would buy a sword and mochate online – I decided to figure out how easy it was to buy a knife from social media.
The children seemed to be able to buy large, deadly weapons with shocking ease.
So in the spring of 2024, I put some social media accounts on behalf of an 18-year-old man. He is a London who is friends with a group of young knives. He thinks he needs one more, to protect himself, and he knows that the biggest knives are more intimidating.
I took myself a special mobile, so my new research would not affect my usual browsing algorithms. I started looking for knives, liked and following accounts that provided content.
The groups contain images of young people posing with knives, videos of blades proximity, and some had knife fights. Soon my new social media accounts began to show me more similar content.
A well -known model appeared. The knives were being advertised in posts on Instagram, Snapchat and Tiktok, with sellers leading buyers in their bio on their telegram channels – encrypted bands where videos, photos and knife prices for sale were open.
Within hours of starting my research, I found and joined my first telegram group selling banned weapons. There were mummy knives, makete, switchblades and swords.
Twenty-two cats cost £ 40 and the 24-inch zombie knives were £ 50-with new shares that arrived soon. The seller was located in Walsall and promised to send to Birmingham area for £ 5. A few days later, a message was raised saying mochetes and mummy knives had sold.
Then a survey rose, asking “Should I take a desperate vest with a knife?” Fifty -six subscribers responded. A few weeks later, knife vests were available to buy.
Within a few weeks I found more than 10 social media accounts offering illegal knives for sale. It didn’t take me long to learn the jargon used for terms like the knife seller, the knife of the shooting, and the zombie knife.
The knives were offered in a variety of colors – gold, silver, red and blue were the most common. Sellers uploaded photos of their parcels, naming courier companies they were using to “guarantee quick distribution”. In some groups, the buyers had written comments after receiving their knives – “Quality of Quality These” and “Vouched – Nice One bro”.
There were also agreements. One group offered discounts for purchasing the bulk, £ 5 from the second orders and the opportunity for members to earn free knives and Knuckledusters. As far as I could see, none of the groups were doing any age verification.
Some were closed over the nine months I observed in the telegram, including a named Shanks r us. But most of them stayed active all the time.
Many of them routinely posted that they were out of stock and apologized for the concern.
In September 2024, the government introduced the legislation making it a prisoner offense to own or sell mummy -style knives and machetes. This added them to a long list of forbidden knives.
It is clear that they are now getting harder to catch.
In one group, the administrator says they are producing mummy knives produced and sent from abroad – Malaysia, Pakistan and China – and is lasting longer than usual. The administrator boasts that “all [their] Shipments land “, and now they are focusing on” bulk shares for the future … meaning the knives have to be cheaper. “
But despite this, trade is still strong. On February 14, I see a message in a group that has grown from zero to 600 members in just a few months reading: “Happy Valentine’s Day for ladies Da there, catch your men a Valentine’s Day tool, make sure he is safe.”
Many of the knives that are sold are clearly illegal – but some are not.
Selling legal knives on the telegram is not technically prohibited, as you do not need a license or registration to sell them. However, it is illegal to publish materials that encourage the use of a knife as a weapon.
In the spring of 2025, the interior office aims to start a consultation in a registration scheme for selling knives online – which would require sellers of all knives, including regular kitchen knives, to be enrolled.
The act of offensive weapons says there must be a system for verifying age for sale and distribution, but there is no evidence that this takes place in the social media groups where I have been.
I have contacted social media platforms to ask what they were doing to curb this harmful content.
Snapchat said the sale of weapons, including knives, was clearly banned on the platform and that it actively operated to remove such content.
He said the action was taken against policy violators – as accountability of accounts. He also said he supported police investigations and had a team working around the hour to respond to authorities’ data requests.
Similarly, Tiktok said that dangerous weapons trade was prohibited and that in the third quarter of 2024, 96% of the clips that violated the instructions were removed before they were reported. She said that sharp knives, regardless of size, were not allowed to be sold at the Tikhtok store.
She added that she worked closely with the government and police to understand changes in knife crime and helped police questions.
I even arrived with meta – which has not yet given a comment. Previously a spokeswoman told Times that the promotion and sale of weapons on the meta platforms was forbidden, and that such content was removed when it was found.
She added that in 2024, Meta met with other technology firms, the Interior Office, OFCom and officials to understand how to work together to resolve the issue.
Telegram – the most unregulated of all platforms – did not return to me.
The telegram is essential as it is the place where the sales of dangerous weapons occur – without action from them, things may not change even if snapchat, ticks and meta broken into harmful content.
The sister of the killed teens Ronan Kanda told the BBC that his killer “had no problem with gathering his knife from his local post office.”
His mother, Pooa, was convinced that the selling online of blade items had played a “crucial role” in the tragedy. “A 16-year-old managed to take these weapons online and sold these weapons to other people,” she said.
After his death, the government has announced a series of new measures known as Ronan’s law, including the harshest sentences for selling knives to under-18 years.
“The tragedy comes out of a light,” Pooa said. “The light we all need.”
But she stressed “there are many more we can do.”
For now, it is still very easy to buy deadly blades on social media.