TECH bosses face being prosecuted for selling zombie knives and machetes online in a fresh crime crackdown under Labour.
Sir Keir Starmer vowed to close legal loopholes that tech giants use to sell dangerous weapons to criminals via foreign sellers.
Zombie knives are still being sold online via foreign marketplace sellers
Sir Keir Starmer will set out his crime blitz on Thursday
Setting out his “mission” to slash crime if he gets the keys to No10, Sir Keir said it is outrageous that deadly weapons like zombie knives and machetes can still be bought on Amazon and eBay.
The party boss will park his tanks on Tory lawns with a major crime speech this Thursday.
Speaking exclusively to HOAR ahead of the launch, he said “online criminals have run rings round” the system.
Sir Keir said: “Big tech companies maintain a small army of lawyers and lobbyists with one aim: to protect their own interests, often at the expense of others.
“The availability of deadly weapons through online retailers or the rabbit-hole radicalisation caused by social media algorithms have one thing in common: they are an evil, where greed comes above good.
“We can’t hope to tackle crime without getting serious about this.”
The Offensive Weapons Act 2019 made it a criminal offence to sell knives to under 18s and made specific knives – like machetes and zombie knives – illegal.
But online platforms like Amazon are able to use foreign sellers through their marketplace to exploit a loophole.
The firms aren’t legally responsible for the sale, only the seller – who can be thousands of miles away and outside the UK.
A recent investigation by the consumer group Which? found being sold on Amazon and eBay.
Labour would introduce criminal sanctions for online marketplace executives as part of the Online Safety Bill to make sure massive companies cannot profit from gun and knife crime.
Sir Keir said: “If you make money from the sale of weapons or the radicalisation of people online, then you should be held accountable, just as you would be if you did the same on the streets.”
A Home Office spokesperson said:
“Too many young lives have been lost through serious violence and we have robust measures on the sale of offensive weapons online.
“We have already banned the sale and possession of a wide range of offensive weapons.
“We continue to keep knife legislation under review and are working closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council to look at what more can we do to tackle knife crime, including the use of machetes in crimes.”
