New Caledonia is a French territory in the Pacific Ocean, between Australia and Fiji, with a large and growing population: more people live there than in all the British Overseas Dependencies added together. Riots broke out after the French government announced plans to give French expats voting rights. In response, France is declaring a state of emergency—and banning Tik Tok on the island.
Attal told a crisis ministerial meeting that troops had been deployed to secure ports and the international airport and the government representative in New Caledonia has "banned TikTok". The airport is already closed to international flights. The state of emergency was announced hours after a French gendarme who was seriously injured during riots in New Caledonia died of his wounds, said Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, raising the death toll to four. The death of the French gendarme followed two nights of rioting as protesters demonstrated against a constitutional reform being debated in the national assembly in Paris that aims to expand the electorate in the territory's provincial elections.
Simple narratives seem a poor fit for New Caledonia's complexities: one can not want to be recolonized while not wanting independence either. But there is one clear message: here's what Tik Tok bans are for.
Previously: France aggressively prosecutes citizens for `solidarity crimes`: feeding and housing migrants
