Big tech has big role to play in fight against knife crime, but so do we all, says Idris Elba

DURING THE Idris Elba: Our Knife Crime Crisis documentary, which aired last night, the acclaimed actor and anti-knife crime activist referred to himself as an ‘amplification device’.

Sitting at a roundtable conversation with Elba at the BBC Broadcasting House, a week earlier, he told the Voice Newspaper that he’s making noise about this issue because it affects all of us.

He wants a ‘big old debate’. He wants ‘people calling up their local radio stations and asking ‘did you see that rubbish last night?’

He doesn’t claim to have all of the solutions, ‘this isn’t Idris the knife crime expert’. But he does see it as an issue that requires urgent collective thinking and more importantly, intentional action.

But what of the actual amplification devices that give the youth unfettered access to wanton violence the likes of which most right minded thinking people would not wish to see?

Every young person online is at risk of being exposed to seeing knife crime being committed, such is ease of access to that type of unsavoury content. 

Asked what his thoughts were on the role of big tech in the fight against the scourge, in at least attempting to nullify the reach and impact of such content, Elba said: “I think when it comes to big tech, there needs to be accountability within their own policies and their policies need to be educated and driven by what society deems as right or wrong. 

“It’s great that they are big companies that make a lot of money with lots of social media followers, that’s fantastic, but by the way we don’t like knives.”

Elba stressed where online was concerned the sale of knives needed to be addressed as well as the advertising of knives for sale.

“We’re not going to tolerate you advertising knives to young people please,” he said. 

He added: “In my opinion, in a society where democracy leads, it takes a village, we all look to the government but, government suggests as a word, that it governs, we all do it together, some way, we vote them in. read more