French Government Implements TikTok Ban In New Caledonia Amidst Rising Unrest

The French government announced a ban on TikTok on the island of New Caledonia to tackle swelling riots on its Pacific island overseas territory.

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said the popular video-sharing app will be shut down as part of a state of emergency which includes the deployment of the army and a curfew on the island of around 270,000 inhabitants.

Protests blew up earlier this week after French lawmakers passed a draft law which would allow all citizens who have resided on the island for more than 10 years to vote in local elections. New Caledonia’s pro-independence movements have argued it would weaken the representation of indigenous people, the Kanaks.

Four people have died and hundreds have been injured, France’s interior minister Gérald Darmanin said.

The unprecedented measure for France comes on the same day NGO Access Now warned about a record number of internet shutdowns across the world in its yearly report for 2023.

French President Emmanuel Macron in July 2023 floated the idea of shutting down platforms like Snapchat and TikTok to control riots across metropolitan France following the killing of a teenager by a police officer. The idea had however prompted widespread criticism that it echoes measures taken by authoritarian regimes in China, Myanmar and Iran to stifle free speech.

TikTok did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

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