Prime Minister Gabriel Attal also said that military personnel would be deployed ‘to ensure the security’ of the territory’s ports and airport

After declaring a state of emergency in New Caledonia, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal unveiled a number of measures on Wednesday 15 May in response to the outbreak of violence in the archipelago. He announced the deployment of military personnel to secure the territory’s ports and airport, as well as a ban on the social network TikTok. This social network, owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, is used as a preferred means of communication by the groups responsible for the violence in New Caledonia over the last three nights.

The ban on TikTok is already in force and operational on mobile phones in the archipelago, emphasised Matignon. The measure has been implemented by the Office des Postes et des Télécommunications de Nouvelle-Calédonie, a public establishment of the New Caledonian government. Blocking websites that glorify terrorist acts is authorised under the state of emergency, but some legal experts are questioning the legality of this decision, arguing that it is unprecedented.

According to lawyer-blogger Maître Eolas, the use of TikTok by the rioters to incite armed rebellion and coordinate could justify this measure to restore public order and security. Gabriel Attal stressed that the state of emergency, in force since 8pm in Paris (5am in Noumea), would be crucial to restoring calm, describing the situation in New Caledonia as serious because of the violence, looting, fires and physical abuse.

The government considers a return to order and calm to be its absolute priority, a sine qua non for any dialogue. Gabriel Attal also announced that a meeting would soon be held at Matignon with the stakeholders in New Caledonia to seek an overall political agreement, following the contested adoption of a constitutional law aimed at enlarging the electorate. The government is committed to using all necessary means to restore calm to the region.