France has declared a state of emergency and banned the TikTok short-video app on the Pacific island of New Caledonia after three young indigenous Kanak and a police official were killed in riots over electoral reform.
The state of emergency, which came into effect at 5am local time, grants authorities additional powers to prohibit gatherings and restrict movement on the French-ruled island.
With police reinforcements adding 500 officers to the usual 1,800 present on the island, authorities are responding to rioters who torched vehicles and businesses and looted stores. Schools have closed, and a curfew is in place in the capital.
Rioting erupted over a new bill, approved by lawmakers in Paris on Tuesday, allowing French residents who have lived in New Caledonia for 10 years to vote in provincial elections—a move some local leaders fear will dilute the Kanak vote.
“No violence will be tolerated,” declared Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, announcing the state of emergency “to enable us to deploy substantial resources to restore order.”
Attal later signed a decree for a 12-day state of emergency and announced the deployment of French soldiers to secure New Caledonia’s main port and airport. Additionally, authorities opted to ban TikTok, citing its alleged role in organising riots on France’s mainland last summer, attracting troublemakers to the streets.
Earlier, a spokesperson for New Caledonia’s President, Louis Mapou, confirmed three young indigenous Kanak died in the riots. The French government later revealed a 24-year-old police official died from a gunshot wound. Locals reported that police were outnumbered by protesters.
Electoral reform marks the latest dispute in a long-standing struggle over France’s role in the mineral-rich island, situated in the southwest Pacific, approximately 1,500km (930 miles) east of Australia.
France annexed the island in 1853 and granted it overseas territory status in 1946. It has been rocked by pro-independence movements for decades. New Caledonia ranks as the world’s third-largest nickel miner, but one in five residents live below the poverty threshold due to a crisis in the sector.
The French government maintains that the voting rule change is necessary for democratic elections.