Why France has banned Tiktok amid violent protests in New Calendonia

Violence raged across New Caledonia for the third consecutive day on Thursday, hours after France imposed a state of emergency in the French Pacific territory to quell unrest in the archipelago that has long sought independence.

In its latest attempt to end the violent upheaval, France has taken drastic measures to block TikTok.

This is the most recent dispute between democratic governments and the Chinese-owned social media platform.

Users of the only telecom provider in New Caledonia have not been able to access the immensely popular app since Wednesday due to the “state of emergency” powers.

Here’s all we know about it.

Why was it banned?

TikTok has long been accused by critics of disseminating false information, collecting private user information, fuelling social instability, especially in nations that are at odds with China, and suppressing criticism of Beijing.

For concerns related to national security, some European nations have even prohibited their officials from utilising the application.

The US is also contemplating a complete ban unless its ownership changes are not achieved.

However, France’s decision seemed more practical.

The administration thinks those who are against French rule were using the app to coordinate violent protests and communicate.

Can they do that?

Nicolas Hervieu, a legal expert at Paris’s Sciences-Po University, said the decision was “without precedent” and may not hold up to legal scrutiny.

The decision was made in accordance with regulations that date back to 1955 and regulate any state of emergency, according to Amelie Tripet, a media lawyer with the August Debouzy firm.

According to the law, any communications provider that is involved in organising or supporting “terrorism” may be blocked by France’s interior minister.

However, Tripet asserts that such an “exceptional measure” would need to be well-justified and have to be limited in duration.

“If this were ever challenged before a judge, there would be three questions: Was it permitted under the law? Was it necessary? Was it proportionate?” she said.

“It is potentially a legally fragile decision,” she said.

How was it done?

The solitary mobile phone provider in the region made it easy for the state-run Postal and Telecommunication Service of New Caledonia to enforce the ban.

The most likely technical method, according to Adrien Merveille, a cybersecurity expert at Check Point Software Technologies, would be to block part of the system commonly referred to as the internet’s phonebook.

The Domain Name System allows users to use word-based web addresses to flit between sites, rather than remembering Internet Protocol addresses that are made up of long strings of numbers.

“The way of stopping access to TikTok would simply be to say that requests made to TikTok do not generate a response. This is something that can be put in place at the operator level,” he said.

What was the impact?

The violence seems to have subsided after four nights of intense unrest that left stores completely destroyed, streets full of burned-out cars, and five people dead.

The situation was described by authorities as “calmer and more peaceful” on Friday, although it is impossible to determine what impact the restriction had.

However, some question the impact.

One VPN company reports a 150 per cent increase in the number of New Caledonians registering to use virtual private networks, which conceal their location.

“State blocking has been practised in China and the Middle East for decades and it works,” said Arnaud Lemaire, an expert from cybersecurity firm F5.

“But it has limits, it can be circumvented with a VPN, bouncing through another country.”

What happens now?

How long the ban lasts is likely to depend on tensions on the ground.

TikTok called the decision “regrettable” and said it was taken without “any request from the local authorities or the French government to take down content.”

“Our security teams are monitoring the situation very carefully and ensuring that our platform is safe,” a company official said. “We remain open to discussions with the authorities.”

With inputs from AFP