'I'm not tech-savvy - but within hours I could buy an illegal knife on social media'

I'm 48, use social media occasionally, and I'm not very tech-savvy. Until recently I'd never used Telegram.

But last year, after meeting the family of Ronan Kanda - the 16-year-old who was killed in a case of mistaken identity by two other teenagers who'd bought a sword and machete online - I decided to figure out how easy it was to buy a knife from social media.

It seemed like the children in the case were able to buy huge, deadly weapons with shocking ease.

So in spring 2024, I set up several social media s in the name of a fake 18-year-old man. He is a Londoner who is friends with a group of young men who carry knives. He thinks he needs one too, to protect himself, and he knows larger knives are more intimidating.

I got myself a separate mobile so my new searches would not impact my usual browsing algorithms. I started searching for knives, liking and following s which offered content.

The groups contained images of young men posing with knives, videos of close-ups of the blades, and some had videos of knife fights. Very quickly my new social media s started showing me more similar content.

A familiar pattern emerged. Knives were being d in posts on Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok, with sellers directing buyers in their bio to their Telegram channels - encrypted groups where videos, photos and prices of knives for sale were openly shared.

Within hours of starting my searches I found and ed my first Telegram group selling banned weapons. There were zombie knives, machetes, switchblades and swords.

Twenty-two-inch machetes cost £40 and 24-inch zombie knives were £50 - with new stock arriving soon. The seller was based in Walsall and promised delivery to the Birmingham area for £5. Days later, a message went up saying the machetes and zombie knives had sold out.

Then a poll went up, asking "Should I get stab-proof vests":[]}